


FireBreathing

by Puffinpastry



Series: DragonSpawn [1]
Category: Dragon Quest XI
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Angst, Blood and Injury, Body Horror, Developing Relationship, Dragon Quest XI Act III Spoilers, Dragonspawn AU, Hurt/Comfort, Luminary is Named Elwood, M/M, Minor Character Death, Nonbinary Sylvia | Sylvando (Dragon Quest XI), Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 189,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22864693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puffinpastry/pseuds/Puffinpastry
Summary: El always knew he was different. There was no way he couldn’t know. Even if he looked mostly human, there was no hiding the parts of him that were not. The two wings that sprouted from his back, the two horns that grew from his temples, the long tail the dragged on the ground behind him, it was all just who he was.And that was okay.Until it wasn't.
Relationships: Camus | Erik/Hero | Luminary (Dragon Quest XI)
Series: DragonSpawn [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1703605
Comments: 276
Kudos: 167





	1. All at Once

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic for this fandom, and I'm so happy I've got something done for it!  
> I'd say you can expect an update for it once a month at the least, though if you're interested in extra stuff, like doodles or snippets that may or may not be added, follow me on my Tumblr. I'm Puffinpastry there as well.

You will meet the Luminary in the dungeons of Heliodor.  
Put your faith in the Luminary, through him you will find forgiveness.

And so, Erik let the guards catch up to him. He didn’t fight back as they took him away, and he waited so very, very long in the dark.  
And waited.  
And waited.

Days turned into weeks and weeks became months. Erik felt himself lose track of time. 

Time that Mia remained in the Snærfelt. Time that she remained a statue.

And finally, Erik decided to make his escape. If the Luminary didn’t come to him, he would just have to find the Luminary himself.

~~

Erik had been working on the tunnel much longer than he’d been able to record. Days went by unnoticed in that cell. There was no way to see the outside world, to see even a hint of sunlight that would’ve given away each day as it passed, and he couldn’t rely on the meals the guards brought him to tell the time either. Maybe it was just him, but sometimes food came when he was just barely hungry, and sometimes it came when he was so nauseously hungry that he could swear he hadn’t eaten in days.  
But at last, one very hungry day, the digging came to an end.  
The dirt and stone before him gave way into an open cave. It was too dark to see what lay ahead, but Erik had faced worse things than just the dark. Carefully, silently, he pulled himself through the last of his tunnel and stood.

The cave was still pitch-black, and the air was no less stale than that in his cell, but he was one step closer to freedom.

The cave he had come out into was small. He couldn’t stretch his arms out all the way, and if he was even a few centimeters taller his head would be touching the ceiling.  
The floor of the cave was uneven, and Erik stumbled more than once as he made his way further in.  
It felt like he walked through that tunnel for ages, with the dripping of water and his own breathing all there was to be heard, but at last, he could see some light.  
Not enough to actually be outside, but enough that he could make out the end of the tunnel.  
The light came from the other side of a small opening close to the ground.  
It was the warm light of a torch, just barely lit.

Erik got low to the ground as quietly as he could and peered through.

There was no sign of any guards or soldiers, not a sound to be heard.  
But he could see the torch that lit up the area.  
It had nearly burned out now. It was possible that someone would soon be by to replace it, so Erik had two choices.  
He could risk the progress he’d made and keep forging ahead or wait for who knows how long for the chance that this torch would be replaced.

His empty stomach made the decision for him.

Erik pulled himself through the gap and took note of his surroundings.

On one side of the cavern, he could see the same kind of iron bars that had kept him captive.  
And all around him were stone walls so high he couldn’t see the top.

But the most important thing to take note of lay in the center of the cave.

A dragon.

Golden scales that reflected the glow from the torch covered the creature. Black horns sprouted from its head and spines grew over its back and down its tail.  
One wing lay spread out, the white membrane torn, stained red with blood.  
A steel ring around its neck, a long chain dangling to the ground and keeping the dragon in place.

Erik took in a sudden breath before he could think to stay silent. 

The dragon startled awake, and before Erik, two startling blue eyes were staring straight at him.

The dragon drew up on all four of its legs, it’s mouth opened wide as its head rose high above Erik, white fangs glistening in the low light. A growl started low in the dragon's throat, and embers lit in its throat as it prepared to attack.

The growl cut short with the clanging of steel on stone.

Guards were coming.

Erik flinched, cold fear sinking through his bones.

Stuck between a dragon and the soldiers of Heliodor.

Though, he wasn’t the only one that flinched at the sound.  
Erik didn’t notice, but the dragon did.  
They were the same, it thought, both prisoners here.

As the sound of the guards got closer, the dragon turned. 

Erik fell back, unsure of what to do, seeing no way out of this situation.  
The time it would take to squeeze back through the tunnel would get him caught.  
The dragon would burn him to a crisp in a second.  
And the guards would take him back to the dungeon if he was lucky.  
If he wasn’t…

But none of those things happened.  
As the dragon moved, it obscured Erik from sight. 

The guard arrived right behind the bars.  
The dragon began to growl again, the noise building up to a roar that Erik could feel in his bones.

The crackle of the embers began again, but no real flames were produced.

“There ain’t anythin’ in there with ‘em!” Erik could hear the guard call out. 

Another responded, but Erik couldn’t make out the words over the dragon’s roar. 

The roar fell down to a growl again, and Erik heard the guards retreating back to where they came from, and then the growl went away as well.

The dragon began to move again, but this time, Erik was significantly less afraid.

The dragon swung its head around to look at him, and - was Erik crazy, or was it much smaller? 

The dragon shoved its head into Erik’s face, and he brought up his hands on instinct to protect himself.

The dragon’s nose touched his hand, and Erik heard a voice. 

The voice of a young man, very soft-spoken, come from inside his own head.

Do Not Speak.

It said, and Erik moved his hands. He held either side of the dragon’s muzzle and looked very carefully into its eyes.

The Guards Will Hear You.

Erik swallowed the fear rising in his chest, and nodded. He understood.

The dragon blinked and he heard the voice again. It seemed to drown out everything around him. He heard the voice, the whisper of wind through leaves, and bells.

My Name Is El. I Cannot Escape Alone.

The question of whether or not Erik would help the dragon, El, was unspoken.  
Like it or not, neither one of them would be leaving on their own.

Need You To Pick Locks. Free Me, I Will Take Care Of Soldiers.

Pick the locks? Erik could do it with his hands tied, but, that was all keeping this creature, this dragon captive?

El removed his head from Erik’s grasp, and lay his head down on the ground, turning his head so that he had easy access to the lock to the collar around his neck.

Erik took a moment to control himself.  
His hands were shaking, he was breathing much too quickly. 

Just this morning he’d been prepared to escape the dungeon, and here he was, no idea how close he was to the outside, with a dragon. The only one he’d ever seen, about to help it escape.  
For a moment Erik wondered if he could really do this. He knew all the stories about dragons.  
How they burned cities to the ground. Stole children from their parents' sides, took the riches of the people to hoard far away where no one could find it…  
He wondered what this dragon had done. Who it had killed. Who it had taken, what it had stolen.  
Erik wondered if his freedom was worth helping a monster.  
But even if it wasn’t, he knew finding the Luminary and freeing Mia was.  
So he took one more deep breath to steady himself and got to work on the lock.

~~

El always knew he was different. There was no way he couldn’t know. Even if he looked mostly human, there was no hiding the parts of him that were not. The two wings that sprouted from his back, the two horns that grew from his temples, the long tail the dragged on the ground behind him, it was all just who he was.

And it was okay.

The people of Cobblestone didn’t care about what made that El kid weird. He was Chalky’s boy. Amber’s son. He was part of everyone’s family and he was a part of their town.  
He played with Gemma and helped tend to the crops.  
When he grew older he became an invaluable asset with hunting. Soon as the boy learned how to change his shape, not one person in Cobblestone went hungry. Rabbits were easy prey to an experienced hunter, but deer were easier prey to a creature that had four sets of talons and two wings with which to fly.

El was a part of Cobblestone, and no one ever even thought to say otherwise. 

It wasn’t until the day El climbed the Tor that he really began to think about what made him different. What kept him from being human.

The climb up the Tor.  
The fight with the monsters.  
Saving Gemma.  
The Mark on his hand.

It all went by in a blur, playing on repeat in El’s mind.  
He went home.  
And everything just got worse from there.

All that was hours ago, now.

El lay in his bed, sleepless. 

So many thoughts, and so little that made sense.  
He was to leave for Heliodor in the morning.  
To seek an audience with the king.

El hadn’t planned on ever leaving Cobblestone.  
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see what lay beyond his village, what was past the mountains he hunted, he did. Even more when he was up on the Tor, where he could see the endless forests and hills beyond.  
He wanted to go, but he was no fool.  
El knew he was too different.  
He was safe in Cobblestone where everyone knew him. In a village so small, so unknown that it wasn’t marked on any map. They had no exports. They had to trade. No one to see El and cry out demon!  
But other villages, other towns, and cities did. 

Maybe being a dragon was part of being the Luminary.  
Maybe other towns knew about this.  
El knew that Cobblestone was cut off.  
Maybe people like him were more common than he thought.

But still, past all those theories, he still couldn’t wrap his head around the truth.  
The reincarnation of the Luminary.  
Something his mum and grandad hid from him as long as they had known him.

Until now, El hadn’t thought much about his origins. He trusted his family and trusted the story they told him.  
Chalky found him in a basket in the river the day after a storm so terrible it fell trees and leveled weaker buildings.  
It was simple. El never thought about who he was beyond Cobblestone. Never cared to learn about where he came from.  
But everything had turned on its head now.

El left for Heliodor in the morning, and nothing made sense.

~~  
Amber remembered the day Chalky brought El into the village.  
Her Papa was soaked to the thigh, river water dripping from his trousers and tunic, and a very small child in his arms.  
Nearly the whole village came to see.  
It wasn’t every day that someone came by holding an orphaned child.  
And it certainly wasn’t every day that that child bore features of a monster.

But this was Cobblestone. And a child was a child.

Amber never married. She never wanted to. She had no children to care for, and no husband to give her any.  
She was a simple farmer, so when her Papa asked her to take the child, she said yes.  
She took the child, let Chalky call the boy El. It seemed too simple of a name, more of a nickname than a real one, but he insisted.  
And well enough, a name wasn’t too important.

Amber took in the child, became a mother, and watched the boy grow. Taught him to be a farmer like herself, and he was gifted.  
It did help quite a bit when he was able to become a full dragon. Making wood ash for the plants was much easier then.  
He continued to grow.  
Taller and taller, stronger and faster, and now, her boy was gone.

It had been days since El left his village.

Cobblestone carried on. It wasn’t unusual for their young villagers to go off on their own adventure after they became adults. Cobblestone wasn’t a village for young folk. It was for people who’d seen enough of the world. People ready to come back to their roots, settle down in a home, and have their own children.

But even if it was something that they were all used to, it didn’t stop Amber from missing her boy.

Kneeling down in the dirt of her garden, Amber pruned the plants alone. For the first time in years.  
It felt wrong.  
Cooking for one felt wrong.

She hadn’t eaten alone her entire life. Even before she had El to take care of, she had her Papa. Amber was content living a simple, quiet life in Cobblestone, and even as she watched her friends leave the village, she stayed.  
And now, so many years later, she wondered what she missed.

She didn’t regret staying home in Cobblestone. Who knows where she’d be now if she had left, and who knows what would’ve become of El if she hadn’t been around to take him in?  
But she did wonder. It was just the beginning of summer, and Cobblestone was plentiful.  
Even if she let her garden rest this season the village would have plenty to eat.  
Maybe it was time for her to go on her own adventure, too.

The dishes from dinner were clean, sitting on the rack to dry.  
Her garden was tended to, and her home was clean.  
Amber’s work for the day was done, but the sun had not yet begun to set.  
What to do.  
The quiet of her home was too loud in her ears. 

But still, that silence was broken.

The sound of a trumpet shattered the quiet evening. Amber rushed for her door, and looked to the village gates.

A whole platoon of Heliodorian soldiers sat on horseback at the top of the hill.

Amber immediately began to make her way to them.  
She couldn’t see him among the group, but El could very well be with them!

She had only turned the corner when something felt wrong.

A flaming arrow flew through the sky.

A cry from the soldier heading the group.

More arrows flew, and they charged.


	2. A Moments Respite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They looked at each other, neither daring to make a move.  
> But as Erik stared, he noticed what made this dragon different.  
> It had the eyes of a human.

The lock to the shackle around El’s neck was bigger than anything Erik was used to picking.

He’d managed to get most of his belongings back before he had begun his escape, but his lock kit wasn’t equipped for anything quite like this.

Getting it to work was more trial and error than any real skill, and as the firelight continued to dim Erik knew he was running out of time.

Frustrated, Erik pulled the pick out of the keyhole, leaving the wrench jammed in. 

Instead, Erik pulled his old knife from its sheath. As the blade moved in close, El made an odd noise, like an instrument Erik couldn’t place. It sounded oddly mournful. It echoed strangely off the cavern walls, and Erik froze in place.

He could still hear the guards, off down the corridor, but none came this time around.

There’s no way they couldn’t have heard it. 

And it’s not like they didn’t care, not if a single growl had them come running not even half an hour ago...

Unless this was a sound they were  _ used  _ to hearing from the dragon.

Erik let go of his tools, just for a moment, to lay his hand on El’s neck. He didn’t know how the dragon had managed to speak to him earlier, but he tried anyway.

_ I’m sorry.  _ Erik thought, hoping the dragon understood.  _ I’ll try to make this fast. _

In the dark, El’s eyes reflected the light, much like those of a cat. Erik took his hand away, and as he picked up his knife and lock wrench again, the dragon stayed quiet.

The knife was nearly too big to use. But the pick itself was much too small, and it wasn’t as if Erik could just find another, or stick his head through the bars of the cell to ask the guard for the key. It was this or nothing.

It was this one and only chance for escape.

Then, it worked.

The lock fell open with a click. Erik moved as fast as he could to catch it before it hit the ground, but even as he caught the shackle, the chain itself made enough noise to wake the dead.

The guards began to yell, the sound of their armor clanking as they ran matched the frantic rhythm of Erik’s heart. His mind raced, though as he panicked, the dragon knew what to do. 

El knocked his head against Erik’s legs, and for a moment Erik heard his voice again.

_ Get on my neck. Hold on to horns. _

With the guards now at the locked gate, and nowhere to run, Erik didn’t need to be told twice. He swung one leg over the serpentine creature and held on as tight as he could to El’s horns.

The guard unlocked the gate, and three of them blocked the way, swords drawn and ready to strike.

Erik’s stomach lurched as El drew back onto his hind legs, wings spread open, and jaw opened wide.

The roar thundered through the room, and Erik realized he could smell smoke.

He moved his hands further up on El’s horns to protect his fingers from the embers that began to fly.

Two of the guards stumbled back in fear.

El dropped back down to four legs and let out a second roar, and Erik realized it was a bluff. Though smoke still filled the cavern, and embers still sparked in the air, no fire burst forth from the dragon’s lungs. 

Though his roar was no less fierce than the first, and even with this dragon on his side, fear and adrenaline still pumped through Erik at the sound. 

But it worked well enough, even if they hadn’t turned tail and run, the guards were still off-balance. And that’s all El needed.

He tucked his wings tight to his sides and took off running with a leap.

Two of the guards fell back, but the third pressed on.

El slid through the doorway of the cell and took the turn hard. 

They both slammed into the side of the narrow corridor, but neither took the time to register the pain of impact before they were both off again. 

The soldiers were yelling, but El didn’t slow and Erik didn’t look back.

There was a fast-approaching light at the end of the tunnel.

They took through it fast, and El did stop this time. Before them was sewer water, and to their right were more soldiers.

El spat more smoke and embers, enough to give them the time to turn again, and just hope that none of their new pursuers were equipped with crossbows.

They continued on this way for only a few moments, El easily outrunning but not quite outmaneuvering the soldiers.

Then, Erik saw sunlight ahead of them.

They burst through, out onto the edge of a cliff.

El came to a halt at the edge, looking down at the waters below.

His head jerked from side to side, looking for another way out.

There was none.

Stuck between a cliff, and a platoon of Heliodors soldiers, who were quickly closing in.

_ Can’t fly.  _ Came the dragon's voice in his head.

“Can’t go back either.” Erik gave back. “We’ve got a better chance with this height than back there.”

The dragon took two steps back.  _ We could die. _

The guards were here now.

“We might not,” Erik said.

“Come on, let’s not do anything stupid now.” One of the guards said, and really, which was the stupid choice? Certain death at the hands of Heliodor’s finest, or uncertain death with the waters below?

The dragon snorted, a puff of smoke rising into the air, and then they were falling.

Down the side of the cliff, faster than the water itself.

They hit the water hard.

Erik had never been a very strong swimmer. Coming from a place like Sniflheim, swimming was never an option. 

But even if he swam like someone from Lonalulu, he didn’t have the energy. Between his adrenaline bottoming out, going days on end without proper food, and rotting in his cell for Goddess knows how long, he simply had nothing left to give.

Erik felt himself sink deeper and deeper into the water, and his vision grew darker. He saw air bubbles float up, and then he felt hands under his arms before darkness overtook his vision entirely.

~~

It happened in a heartbeat.

Erik was laying down in a field of wildflowers, staring up for the first time in months, at a bright and cloudless sky.

As he sat up, Erik realized where he was.

The flowers stretched endlessly in every direction, interspersed here and there with streams that ran clear, and just a little bit away, sat a quaint little house.

He could see her from here. She sat up on the roof of the building, her fishing line cast into one of the empty streams.

She turned to him, and Erik was no longer on the ground, but sitting beside her, a fishing pole in his hands.

“So it seems you’ve found what you’re looking for.” She said to him, ever vague.

“Hardly.” Erik huffed. “I don’t know how many months I’ve spent in Heliodor, without even a sign of the Luminary.”

She hummed. “So sure of yourself. But you shouldn’t be. I think you’re well on your way.”

Erik turned from where he’d been watching the water. “What do you-“

He stopped.

The seer was gone. Where she’d sat was only empty air, and as Erik turned his head to look for her, he woke up.

The sound of the waterfall was incredibly loud in his ears as Erik dazedly stared out at where it fell.

He closed his eyes, absolutely exhausted. He was so tired. He was comfortable and warm, and it’d been so long since he’d slept well, and-

He was comfortable. He was warm. There was an odd weight in his lap and-

The dragon. El was curled around him. His head rested on Erik’s lap, while his body was keeping Erik upright. One wing covered Erik like a blanket. 

Everything was still. Safe.

Erik took this single moment to actually look at the dragon he’d allied himself with today.

Just as he’d seen in that cavern, El’s scales were golden, but they held an undertone of grey that didn’t seem to belong.

The horns that grew from his head were a light brown color, and the spines that sprouted along the ridge of his back were a deep purple.

The dragon was beautiful.

But, more importantly, he was injured. 

He’d seen it momentarily earlier, but now that he had a good look at it, Erik was horrified. The membrane between two of the spines on his wing was ripped. Cut from the bottom nearly to the top.

Their little dip in the water had helped wash away the dried blood, but the edges of the tip were still red with inflammation.

His neck was like that, too. Not where Erik had saddled himself, but where the shackle had rested. The scales were raised and red, puffed up and even a little green.

What Erik felt as he looked at the wound was not pity. He felt sympathy for this creature.

For just a moment, he was on equal footing with it.

And Erik wasn’t sure where to go from here.

They had helped each other when they’d needed it, but he hardly expected that to continue from here, and frankly, Erik felt blessed that he had received even more help from El, being warmed and fished from the waterfall basin, rather than being left to drown or becoming his next meal.

But surely, this is where that ended. 

Erik tried to move out of the dragon’s hold, but the moment he tried to move, the dragon startled awake.

It drew back away from Erik, who the dragon had left startled, still sitting on his ass on the stone floor.

The dragon had turned, shying it’s injured wing away from Erik, but exposing a long cut to him. It worked it’s way from the shoulder of its foreleg, to the hip of its hind leg. Fresh droplets of blood began to ooze from the wound. It had begun to scab, but the sudden movement caused it to reopen.

The third guard, Erik realized the one that didn’t stand down when the dragon roared. 

Erik stood shakily, hands raised where the dragon could see them.

They looked at each other, neither daring to make a move.

But as Erik stared, he noticed what made this dragon different.

It had the eyes of a human.

They were not reptilian or monstrous.

A baby blue color, round, and alight with fear.

Erik swallowed hard, remembered what the seer said, and dared to speak.

“Are..” his heartbeat in his throat. He couldn’t breathe. “Are you the Luminary?” All the myths, all the stories about the Age of Heroes painted a picture of the Luminary and his companions as men, as humans, but… the seer had never said anything so certain. Stranger things had happened to Erik, anyhow.

The dragon ever so slightly dropped its defensive posture. Those eyes looked him up and down, and after a moment, he gave a single nod.

Erik lowered his hands, just a little, still keeping them in full view. “That’s a yes?”

El took a tentative step forward, stretching out his neck,

Each time Erik has heard the dragon’s voice, he’d been in physical contact with him. Erik reaches out his hand and closed the distance between them.

Erik’s hand rested on El’s muzzle, and again Erik heard his voice.

_ I am the Luminary.  _ He said  _ That is why they kept me captive. _

_ Because  _ he was the Luminary? That didn’t make sense. The Luminary is meant to bring peace to the world, isn’t he?

El saw his confusion and began to explain.

~~

Erik listened closely, not stopping El for question or comment, taking every word as truth without a second thought. Normally Erik found that it paid to be skeptical, but this specific case was so unique, so incomparable to anything else he’d ever done.. his usual rules couldn’t apply. 

Besides, dragon or not, this was the  _ Luminary.  _ He had to trust what the seer said. This was his best shot, and perhaps his only shot, at getting Mia back to normal. 

As El tapered off, all that could be heard in the cave was the rush of water and the ringing in their ears.

“Well.” Erik started, standing up with a wince, “If we’re going to figure any of this out we’re going to need a few things. Food, for one. I don’t know about you but I’m just about hungry enough to eat anything.”

The dragon looked at him silently. Erik felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

He didn’t like this. It all felt wrong.

“Medicine and bandages for another.” Erik turned away and looked out past the water. The cave they were in was mostly obscured, the entrance narrow and overgrown with moss. Hidden or not, the longer they stayed here the riskier it was, the more likely they’d be discovered, and they’d been here far longer than they should’ve already. “I’m pretty handy with first aid, but you’ll have to tell me if I’m doing anything wrong. I don’t know how to treat scales.”

The sound of talons against stone was the only warning Erik had that the dragon was moving closer.

“And one last thing for me.” Erik continued speaking, past the tight curl of fear in his chest. “I’ve got something stashed away, something I need to get back.” The Red Orb. If nothing else, he could pawn it off for enough gold to keep them going for a while. “We’ll need to make a detour, but afterward I’ll show you the back roads to your village.”

The dragon was next to him now. Sitting close enough to touch, on his haunches like a dog. Even with Erik standing straight, the dragon's head was far above his own. 

_ Why are you helping me?  _

If there was one thing about this dragon that didn’t put Erik on edge, it was his voice. As strange as it was to hear the voice of another inside his own mind, Erik had never heard anyone this kind. They hadn’t spoken enough, hell, they’d only known each other for less than a day, for Erik to pin down any kind of personality, but the sound of his voice was kind. 

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re the Luminary, and even so, we’re both wanted men now. Might as well stick together.” 

El shifted, his head drooping down ever so slightly.

The sudden change in posture gave Erik pause.

There was something that he couldn’t put his finger on, something about this dragon that threw everything Erik knew on its axis.

“Hey,” Erik places his hand upon the dragon’s shoulder, carefully staying clear of the cut, in what he hoped was a comforting gesture, “I believe in you. I believe in the Luminary.”

The dragon looked at him then, confused, calculating. 

_ Where’s this detour? _

Well, at least he’s on board. “Down Town Heliodor. I know exactly where.”

_ Is it wise to return there so soon? _

“Trust me. It won’t be five minutes.”

The dragon let out a huff, that may have been a sigh, and a cloud of smoke came with it.  _ Fine. Climb on, I’ll get us down the cliff. _

~~

“Okay,” Erik motioned for El to follow him, for now, the coast was clear, but it would hardly stay that way for a dragon that was nearly as tall as a horse, and significantly more noticeable. They didn’t have much cover to rely on, besides the scaffolding that led up to the Down Town.

“You’re going to have to wait out here,” Erik said, looking into the Down Town. “There’s no way to sneak you inside. We’ll need to find somewhere for you to hide-“ He turned to the dragon, but he was nowhere to be found.

“El?!” Erik called as loudly as he dared, still well below regular speaking volume. How had he managed to lose an entire dragon in less than a minute? “El!”

Erik took a step forward, and the sound of the dry grass moving caught his attention and brought it down to the ground. 

Sitting nicely, tail wrapped around his talons like a cat was a much smaller dragon. 

“You..” Erik took a deep breath. No time for questions. No time for confusion. He could break down later.

“That’ll work much better.” He said instead.

Kneeling down, he reached out a hand.

El climbed onto his hand and up to his arm without any hesitation. Erik winced as his needle-sharp claws pierced right through his sleeve to prick at his skin. 

_ Sorry.  _ Erik heard as the little dragon settled around his shoulders. El’s head and forelegs sat in the crook of Erik’s neck, and his body wrapped around to his other shoulder while he let his tail draped down Erik’s back. He could still feel the claws digging into his skin, and Erik knew he’d have four sets of pin marks by the time this was over.

“S’alright.” Erik pulled his hood up over his head, hiding his face and the little reptile in shadow.

No one looks too closely at anyone in downtown Heliodor, and Erik hasn’t ever relied on that fact more than he is now. 

The walk up the cliffside and through the tunnel was quick and easy. No one ever really comes through late at night, not unless they were wanted men, like himself.

But in the town itself, the night was when it came to life.

Dancers and fortune-tellers were out on the streets, calling to those walking by, offering their services while vendors called out prices and products.

Erik kept his head down, but he could feel the little dragon move his head around, peering around as discreetly as he could.

Not for the first time, Erik wondered how El managed to get through the city on his own, let alone the Castle itself.

“Here we are,” Erik whispered, though this part of town was deserted. No one set up home nor shop by the rubbish dumps. “It’s in here, the Red Orb. My old partner-in-crime and I hid it here a ways back.”

Erik trudged through the grime, but, it wasn’t where he’d left it.

A little nugget of anxiety wormed its way through him, but Erik tried to push it away. More and more was added to this dump daily, there’s no way it stayed  _ completely  _ immobile for the entire time he was locked away. Right?

But he kept digging, and still, it was missing.

Eventually, El jumped down from his shoulders, looking around for anything that stuck out, but after long enough, Erik sat back on one of the many crates scattered around. It wasn’t here.

El came back over to him, and Erik sat still as the dragon climbed back up to his perch on Erik’s shoulders.

_ Nothing. What happened to five minutes?  _

“I.. I don’t know.” Erik answered, “I don’t understand, Derk and I stashed it here,” a cold feeling wrapped itself around Erik as it occurred to him that, “He sold me out!” Erik stood up abruptly, and El tightened his hold on Erik’s hood as he nearly fell off. “He sold me off and kept the Orb for himself! Sorry, El,” Erik added, “but we’ve got a couple more stops to make.”

The dragon stayed silent as Erik pulled his hood back up, and turned back the way they came.

Ruby was just as helpful as she’d ever been, and now Erik was starting to think that traveling with a dragon was less of a nuisance than he’d thought. The guard keeping the poor out of the nicer parts of Heliodor was hardly an obstacle. Terrified of animals, all El had to do was stand hidden in the shadows and growl.

One was all it took, and the guard was off.

But now, standing before Derk’s new home in the uppermost part of the city, that confidence, the anger, it was all gone. The lights were turned on inside, and a sign was out front. Derk had made it big. He had a home, he had a career.

Erik felt empty.

All he had were the clothes on his back and a statue of a sister half the world away.

_ Are we going in?  _ El’s voice in his head reminded Erik that he wasn’t completely alone, but it did little to help.

“Yeah,” Erik made for the door, “and I might need you to do a little scaring again.”

Derk stood by a counter, carefully setting down a very intricately painted vase on the floor.

“Welcome, welcome!” He said without turning around, “Feel free to browse, we only have the finest in stock here.”

“That’s good.” Erik spoke before he even thought about what he should say, “I’m looking for something very special. You wouldn’t perchance have a royal heirloom in stock, a red orb, specifically?”

Derk turned around and nearly stumbled back. “Erik!” 

Derk lunged forward, taking hold of Erik around the waist. “Oh, it’s really you! My brother, my old partner-in-crime!”

Erik grabbed the hands holding him in place and shoved Derk away. “Have you no shame?” He shouted, “You sold me out! You took the Orb and bought this place with the money.” Erik felt all the anger return, layered with all the time he spent rotting in the dungeon. Layered with the fear and pain he felt during his escape. He didn’t notice that his hood had fallen back down around his shoulders. He didn’t feel the talons that had dug into his skin for purchase or the tail that wrapped around his throat just to stay on balance.

_ Erik! Erik!  _

Derk stood in shock, looking in disbelief between the man he’d known better than anyone else throwing accusations at him, and the living, breathing, actually in-his-house dragon. Where to begin?

Derk’s jaw moved silently, trying to find the words to defend himself. 

“N-no! Erik, I built this shop to  _ help _ you!”

“Help me by lining your own pockets?”

“I gave up the orb to the king. I opened this shop, and near all the money I make has been going to keepin’ the guards quiet. I couldn’t just sit by while you were stuck up in jail, now could I?” 

Erik stood down, “I.. that does make sense.” He conceded, “it would explain why my cell was never tossed when I was digging that hole, and why that wing was hardly ever patrolled.”

“See! I was payin’ them to turn a blind eye.” 

Erik sighed, and let the tension fall from his shoulders. “Alright. I’m sorry. I should’ve known you wouldn’t have done anything to hurt me.”

Derk smiled wide, “it's good to have you back, Erik. But, I think there’s something you have to tell me.”

“What-“ Erik realized his hood was down, El frozen shock still around his neck. 

“Come on, you can tell me over dinner. My wife always makes more food than the three of us can eat. There’s plenty left over.” 

And what else could Erik do but follow? 

~~ 

Surreal was one word to describe it.

Sitting at a dinner table, next to a dragon that had to duck its head and squish its wings to its body to fit at the table setting.

Erik looked down at his empty plate. Home-cooked food. Something he’s never really been used to having. His meals were nearly always something he’d make himself on the road, or something from a pub when he could afford it, or more recently, prison gruel. 

El had been served after Erik. It was almost a funny image, the dragon holding a fork between his talons, and eating as politely as he could from a much larger serving of food.

But now their plates were empty, and the room was silent. Erik had explained as well as he could, without mentioning the Luminary, or Mia. It wasn’t much, but it was all he was currently willing to give away.

Derk didn’t seem to be offended by the half baked story Erik told, though. He only smiled and asked if there was anything he could do for them before they left.

Erik didn’t want to ask for much more. Not now that he knew that Derk had spent the last year throwing away his money to keep Erik safe. Not after he’d taken them, two fugitives, into his home, risking his entire livelihood, his family… but still.

“I wouldn’t suppose you have any decent knives in stock? I didn’t manage to get any of my things when I busted out.”  _ Oh, wait a moment.  _ “El, did you have anything taken from you when you were thrown in?”

The dragon slowly nodded.

In the blink of an eye, the large dragon was small again and moving back to his spot on Erik’s shoulder.

_ Took my bag. I didn’t have a lot, but some of it was precious to me. _

“What was it? Gold, gems?”

_ I didn’t have much gold. Not enough to buy much. It was a necklace. My mother gave it to me. _

“Well then, what’s he saying?” Derk asked, standing, “I can get you a knife, easy.”

“He says that he had a necklace.” Erik didn’t look away from his companion. He looked miserable. So much Erik was learning about dragons in such a short amount of time. A treasure he lost, but it wasn’t a treasure to El because if it’s value, but because of who gave it to him.

“A necklace, eh? Come take a look at this, it’s been passing through many hands as of late. Rumor has it that it was confiscated from someone who was arrested.”

Derk led them through his shop over to a glass case. Pendants and earrings filled it, each studded with gemstones or carved from precious stones. 

But one hung alone on a display, on a golden chain a green pendant hung. The crest of Dundrasil was painted onto the surface in gold leaf.

_ That’s it!  _ Erik heard the dragon cry,  _ That’s my necklace! _

“That’s the one.” Erik passed on.

“I’d thought it was an amazing find,” Derk said, opening the case. “Some soldier pawned it off at another shop, and it’s been going from place to place. No one seems quite sure what to make of it. It’s valuable, just going by the material, but the crest.. who knows how old it is?” 

He handed the pendant over to the little dragon, who took it carefully in both his front paws.

_ Thank you. _ El said absently as he looked down at the stone. 

“Want me to hold onto it for you?” Erik offered, “you don’t have anything to keep it in, and it’s a bit big for you right now.”

El looked up from his single possession and regarded Erik carefully. 

Maybe Erik was too forward with the offer. El knew he was a thief, but he’d hoped the dragon knew he didn’t have any intentions to keep it.

But El handed it over, watching carefully as Erik tucked it away.

Derk returned with two bags for them. Both for Erik to carry, but both full of supplies and provisions. Dried meat and fruit for the road in one and the second packed full of medicinal herbs and first aid supplies.

“I don’t pretend to know exactly why you’re so stuck on getting this orb, or why you’ve partnered yourself with a dragon, but I know you have your reasons, Erik.” 

Erik took the two bags gratefully. He didn’t know what to say. 

“And, and take this, too.” Derk held out another bag, a coin pouch. 

With the two other bags secured, Erik carefully took this last one. It was heavy.

“I can’t accept this,” Erik said, looking into the bag. There had to be at least a few hundred gold coins in it. That much generosity... Accepting the knife was one thing. It wasn’t too valuable, it was something he needed. And the supplies were much the same, but this.. this was too much.

“Please do.” Derk said, “you can’t have much to your name right now. I can afford it.” Derk added, “now that I’m not paying off every soldier in Heliodor!”

It was meant to be a joke. But even as Erik tucked away the small fortune, he only felt guilty. 

“You’ll be needed more than what I’ve given you out there. Let me do this at least. And you know that you’ll always be welcome here, now.”

“Thank you.” Erik heard his voice crack but tried to ignore it. All of this... 

“Don’t mention it,” Derk said, and that was it. Nothing else was left to be said, even though Erik felt like there couldn’t be more left unsaid. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came out much faster than I had thought it would, and it's a lot more than I had expected.  
> I ended up splitting it into two parts. This chapter was meant to span all the way to the door of departure, but since I nearly hit 5,000 words with just half of what I would've written, I decided to go ahead and get one chapter posted today. But this also means that chapter 3 is already underway!
> 
> Also, you'll see that we have an estimated number of chapters now! Ten for each act, and an extra five for an extended epilogue.


	3. Out of the Frying Pan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik stood and offered his hand. “We’re doing no one any good just hanging about here. Let’s go find what your grandad left for you.”

Rain fell steadily down nearly the moment El crossed the threshold into the Manglegrove.

But at the very least, the heat made the atmosphere more humid than cold.

Throughout his life, El had learned the many ways that dragons differed from other reptiles. They had their similarities, but they were vastly different in many ways.

Temperature was one that sprung to mind. El was as cold blooded as the little green lizards he’d see soaking up sun rays on Cobblestone’s stone houses, but he wasn’t as dependent on the sun's warmth as they were. He had…  _ something…  _ inside him that kept him constantly warm. His skin constantly radiated heat, except in the winter months. Cobblestone’s winters weren’t as brutal as most other places. They got snow, the river would ice over, but they didn’t worry about sickness, or blizzards, or famine. But he dreaded them anyway. The cold pierced through his skin in a way that it didn’t seem to do to anyone else. He became lethargic and sleepy, and lost his appetite more often than not.

Or maybe this wasn’t true of dragons, and it was just unique to him.

After his first foray into the word outside Cobblestone, El had learned a lot of things were unique to him.

Next to El, Erik made a frustrated sound, pulling his hood up over his head. 

El extended his uninjured wing up and out, creating an umbrella for his companion, who stopped and looked up at the dragon.

“You don’t need to do that.” Erik said. “I’ve got my hood.”

_ I’ll get wet either way.  _ El said, though he was not touching Erik,  _ and your hood won’t be protective for long.  _

“But won’t your wing get tired?” 

Erik had  _ heard  _ him. Or, at least, it seemed like he had. So El tried again.

_ I’ll be fine. You’ll get sick if you get chilled, though. _

“I’m really fine,” Erik said as they continued along the path, reaching up one arm, tapping the end of the wing twice. “Put that away, you’re making us an easy target for anything flying.”

That didn’t give a concrete answer.

El didn’t know the exact timespan needed for the people around him to be able to  _ hear  _ him in dragon form without contact. He grew up with the same group of people, with the only additions being babies born, so he wasn’t given much opportunity to test it, or any real incentive to. His family understood him, his friends, and most of the villagers did too.

Maybe the deciding variable wasn’t time at all.

_ Okay _ . El said anyway, just in case. He tucked his wing back against his side, and they marched forward.

El felt rather underwhelmed by the monsters here. So many times he’d been told to steer clear of the Manglegrove and it’s array of deadly creatures, but for Erik and himself, it wasn’t difficult.

The bubbleslimes proved to be the most difficult, and that was only since they had a limited number of antidotal herbs on them.

But otherwise, dancing devils were no threat, and lips were more annoying than challenging, and the sabrecubs were easy to intimidate. All El had to do was gently roll them away with one paw and they scampered off.

But even so, even if the attacks only chipped away at them, soon enough they needed to stop for the night.

When they found the campsite, Erik settled down immediately, but something prevented El from being able to relax in the same way. 

Something in the air.. it felt wrong. It felt like they were being watched.

That, and the empty cabin. It was hard to believe that someone would go to the trouble to build their home out here, just to abandon it. 

Not to mention the dog that stood just outside the circle of firelight.

When El lay down, he struggled to relax. Ripples of unease twisted through his gut, but eventually the chirping of the night-birds and Erik’s soft snoring lulled him into sleep.

El opened his eyes to the stone walls of his home. Early morning light shone through the windows as he sat up in bed, blinking slowly.

Amber stood over by the fire, stirring breakfast in a pot.

El felt cold.

It must be early.

Too early for him to be awake, at least.

But the sun was so bright, he was so cold, and his bed was oddly uncomfortable.

He should try to sleep more.

Amber wouldn’t expect him up until breakfast was on the table at the least.

He closed his eyes.

“...up.”

Only to jolt back awake a second later. Was that Amber? It couldn’t have been.

Was someone at the door?

“Wake up, lazybones!”

This time, El woke to reality.

He was very cold. Much colder than he’d been in his dream. His limbs felt stiff, and his eyes felt blurry.

It was much, much too early to be up.

A hand grabbed hold of his horn and shook.

El jerked his head out of Erik’s grasp, and glared daggers at the thief with a smoke-producing snort.

Erik was grinning. “Are all dragons this lazy?”

_ How should I know? _ El said as he got to his paws, stretching his wings out.

“What, do you not know any other dragons?” 

El stopped, and looked at his companion.  _ Can you hear me? _

“‘Course. I’ve been hearing you since I found you.” Erik wasn’t even looking at El anymore. He was digging through his bags, and pulled out the pouch that contained the dried food. “You hungry?” He asked, “I doubt we’ve got enough here to fill your belly, but-“

_ I can hunt for us.  _ El offered, trying not to dwell on their new form of communication. After all, he didn’t know the trigger for the jump between hearing through contact, and hearing without it.  _ Or just for me. I won’t take your rations. _

Erik returned the pouch to his bag, keeping out a few chunks of dried apple. 

“If you can do that, wait until we make camp next. We don’t want to spend too much time in one spot. And I’d like to leave before it starts pouring again.”

El couldn’t fault him for that. So, he resigned himself to an early start. At least since he would be keeping pace with Erik, he could be slow.

At least Cobblestone wasn’t far. Surely they could take long enough for El to stretch out in the sun for just a few hours?

“Bridge is out over here,” Erik called over. “We’ll need to find another route.”

Or maybe not.

They’d explored nearly the entire grove to the point of the campsite, leaving only the bridge and the path behind the cabin left. 

There was that dog, still.

As they took the path, the dog followed. 

El watched the dog from the corner of his eye. There was something he recognized about it. Not something familiar, but something he knew. 

But he didn’t have to dwell on it long.

The path was short, leading to a small circular clearing. Stone walls surrounded them, blocking out the morning light. Instead, the grove was lit by small glowing lights, floating by on a nonexistent breeze. They almost looked like fireflies, but there was no insect to be seen.

And in the center of the clearing, a root grew tall. A strange pattern followed the growth to a bud, curled in on itself.

El felt drawn to the plant, and without a second thought, he reached out a foreleg to touch it.

“Hey, now. El-“ Erik began to warn him to be careful, but before he could finish, a blinding golden light overtook the strange flora, and overtook their vision entirely.

When El came back to himself, he understood.

The dog was like him. A human being in another form. Only, the dog was not free to go to and from as he was. The woodcutter was trapped in a way that El could not comprehend. 

“That-“ Erik shook his head, eyes wide open. “That couldn’t have been real. There’s no way-“ the dog, the woodcutter, nudged his nose against Erik’s legs, and he looked down at it. “I-“ he looked at El. “It’s too crazy.”

_ Crazier than escaping prison with a telepathic dragon?  _ El asked. 

Erik pressed his hand over his eyes, and tilted his head back to the sky. “Yeah, yeah. But it’s not like  _ you  _ go around changing from dragon to human.”

Well. El hadn’t been completely open about himself.  _ Yes. _ He said.  _ I do. _

“You-“ Not for the first time, El watched Erik take what El would call an anger management sigh. “I’ll ask questions later. More important right now is tracking down that monster. Think we can find him?”

The woodcutter-turned-dog barked loudly, and turned to race down the path they’d taken.

_ Certainly seems like he knows the way.  _ El said, and turned to follow.

The tricky devil was annoying to fight, but with El having just learned the spell heal, he posed no real danger. The fight was over quickly, and the Woodcutter rushed up to meet his two saviors.

He thanked them, again and again, repaired the bridge, fed them a hearty meal to send them on their way, and as they left, he had one last thing to say.

“I’d thought it strange seeing the two of you traveling together, but you’re like me, aren’t you?” The woodcutter asked El. “Cursed by some dastardly monster.”

He didn’t hear El’s voice, and even if he could, there’d be nothing to hear. 

“I hope you can break your curse just as you broke mine. Off you go!” The woodcutter waved them off as they walked down the bridge, and both were silent.

“There’s no time to explore.” Erik said as they reached the other side, “we’ve lost a lot of time.”

~~

How odd. El didn’t remember changing back. He’d thought it better to remain a dragon on the road. He had no weapon to defend himself, and escape was much easier if he was as fast as a horse.

Maybe it was just being home that made him change.

As much as Cole and the other children in the village loved to ride around on his back, he knew the adults preferred him in his more human form.

It wasn’t of any matter. Now that he was home, he needed to go speak with his mother. She’d need to know what had happened at the castle. 

Turning to his side, El spoke. “Erik-“ but his companion was nowhere to be seen. 

El turned round, looking to spot a splash of blue in the greens and grays of Cobblestone, but without any luck. 

Maybe he was waiting outside the village. He had been making a point of making it fast anyway.

Well, that wasn’t up to him. El doubted his mum would allow him to gloss over his stay in the dungeon.

The man at the village gate greeted him like a stranger. 

_ Really, I’ve only been gone a few days!  _ There was no need to joke like that.

El was nearly to the front door, when the sound of a child crying reached his ears.

It sounded familiar.

It sounded.. it sounded like Gemma.

He and Amber really had the best view of Cobblestone from their little cliff. 

They could see the whole village, from the village gate, to the path to the Tor.

And between those two points, El could swear he saw Gemma. Gemma as he remembered her looking over a decade ago.

And just as she always managed to, she’d lost her headscarf to the branches of a tree.

The walk from his home to that old oak felt longer than it was, and yet, it felt over too soon.

There was no way. There was no way, El heard repeat in his head as he plucked the red scarf from the branch. As he handed it to the girl he’d known all his life.

“Who are you?” She asked him. “You’ve got wings and horns, just like my friend!”

El didn’t hear his own words.

“That’s his name, too.” She tilted her head, “or, do you mean you're looking for him? He’s down by the pier, with Chalky! I’ll take you to him!”

Gemma didn’t wait for his answer, before she turned off, skipping down the road with a puppy following beside her.

He didn’t need her guidance, he could find his way to that river with his eyes closed.

But he followed anyway, numb to his surroundings.

At last, in view of the river, the graveyard was a grave emptier than it should have been, and, oh Goddess, his grandpa was there again.

Standing with his back to him, a line cast into the water, Chalky stood alive and well.

“Hey grandad, can I borrow your ladder?” His own voice said, higher than it is now, but his all the same. 

It was odd, seeing himself like this. 

Wings still too small to properly carry his weight, horns still short and blunt. “The wind blew Gemma’s scarf up a tree!”

And Chalky turned, and El felt his heart break in two.

“Oh, no. Now we can’t have that, now can we? Let me go and find it for you.”

He looked up, and his eyes met El’s.

“We don’t need the ladder anymore!” Gemma announced, tying the cloth in place. “That nice man there got it for me. He says he’s looking for you, El.”

“I’ve never seen him before.” El said, looking up at him, eyes on his horns. “He.. he’s like me.”

Oh, how could El not remember this? Did this truly happen? Was any of this real?

“I think it might be me he’s looking for.” Chalky smiled, “now, why don’t you kids go and play, and let us grown-ups talk?”

The two children didn’t need any convincing, rushing off to do whatever they pleased, and Chalky walked up to meet El.

“Well, well, well. There’s only one person I know with wings like that. And even without, I’d recognize you anywhere.”

El could feel tears welling up in the corner of his eye, and Chalky noticed right away.

“There’s no need for that now, lad. What’s wrong? Care to tell your old grandad?”

Oh, where to begin? Where should he begin? Would it even be fair to burden Chalky like this?

But the words came unbidden, of his departure from Cobblestone, his escape from imprisonment.

El had never seen Chalky so serious, or so sad.

“Well, well.. to think I’d trusted King Carnelian to do right by you.” Chalky shook his head, and looked up to meet El’s eyes. “I should’ve told you the truth. I shouldn’t have hidden it from you your whole life. But what’s done is done. This is what we’re going to do. In your own time, go to Cobblestone falls. Dig at the three-sided rock. I’ll bury something that’ll help you on your way.”

El nodded, but then, the world around him shook and shifted. 

Chalky was as tangible as a ghost now, but he still offered his grandson a smile.

“What a fine figure of a man you’ve become. I’m glad I’m able to see you all grown up.” His voice echoed through the air. “You be good now, lad. Don’t waste your time bearing grudges. Live life with love in your heart, it always did me right. And you, you’ve got the heart of a dragon! I’m sure you’ve got enough love to give to anyone you meet. Bye, now…”

The world flickered once more, and Chalky was gone. The pier was empty.

El swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. 

He turned back towards the village, because what else could he do?

He wanted to grieve. By the Goddess he wanted to grieve for his grandpa all over again, but he couldn’t. He didn’t have the time.

He saw himself again, playing with Gemma by the oak tree.

They saw him, and waved, but the world changed. The bright day faded, and with it, Cobblestone.

Erik was beside him again.

“You okay? I lost you for a minute there.” He paused. “Not surprising, I suppose.”

Not surprising? El turned, and finally, saw the carnage.

His village, his  _ home.  _ Burned to the ground. Taken apart stone by stone, pillars of smoke rising to the air.

El’s head turned, side to side, searching for any intact building, any sign of life.

_ No! _ He cried out,  _ no, no, no!  _ El felt the fire in his chest blossom from an ember to an inferno. 

“I can’t believe they’d do this. Just because you lived here. What kind of monsters are they?” 

El barely heard Erik. His breathing became ragged, he couldn’t think straight. His vision tunneled, and he could feel smoke pour from his jaw.

_ NO! _

“Hey, hey now.” Gloves hands touched El’s neck, and El whipped his head around to stare down at the human next to him.

Erik put his hands up between them. “It’s alright, listen, there’s no blood, there's no bones. They’re safe, they got out.”

El didn’t want to listen, he didn’t know what to think. His house on the hill was gone.

His village.

His family.

Everything was gone, what was there to do?

“They’re fine! I promise you, they’re okay.” Erik kept pushing, moving just a step closer to El. “I’ve looked through the whole place, there’s no sign that anyone was attacked. They’re probably in Heliodor, like we were.”

El felt his pounding heart begin to slow, and the fire in his chest begin to be smothered. 

“That’s right, come on, it’s okay.”

Erik moved in closer, and El felt himself change. Four legs became two, his snout shortened to a nose, talons became nails, and El fell to his knees. It was too much. It was all just too much.

“Hey, hey.” El’s hands were covering his eyes as he began to cry, so he didn’t see Erik bend down, but he felt the arms that hugged him.

It was awkward, wings and horns in the way, but the intent was clear. “It’s alright. We’ll find them, okay? We’ll find them.”

El didn’t know how long it took, but eventually his shoulders stopped shaking, and his sobs quieted down to hiccups.

Erik had moved. He’d stayed in close, one arm wrapped around El’s shoulders, but he’d stayed quiet. He’d given El time to grieve, and kept watch.

But now that El had regained his composure, he spoke again.

“That root was glowing, just then. Were you having another vision?” 

El nodded. “I spoke with my grandfather.” His voice was rough, and his throat was sore. “I was… I was in the past, before he died. He told me to dig in front of a certain rock near the falls, east of here. That he buried something that would help me.”

“The past?” Erik repeated, “I wouldn’t have believed it…” he let out a soft laugh, hardly audible. “But the last three days I’ve met a dragon that can be a man and a man that was a dog.”

El smiled, just a little.

Erik stood and offered his hand. “We’re doing no one any good just hanging about here. Let’s go find what your grandad left for you.”

Erik was trustworthy. El had decided that already, but now, as he walked just a few steps ahead of him, El was sure of it. 

The road to the falls was short, and even now in his human form again, El felt ready for just about anything. 

They’d taken the time for El to take a new bronze sword from what remained of the old woman’s shop. He’d pay her for it when he met her again.

The sun had completely set by the time they’d climbed down the rocks and made their way around the falls.

This is where El was born. Or, well, not born. But this is where Chalky found him. Where he became a part of someone’s family.

And here he was again, but this time, about to leave it.

The grass was thick where he began to dig. No sign of it ever being disturbed. El wondered when Chalky buried it. If he did it immediately after he met El in the past, or if he’d waited.

Then, El hit wood.

The box was simple. Deceptively so, for what it contained.

“Letters, huh?” Erik said from where he was looking over El’s shoulder. “The top one has seen better days, that’s for sure.”

And he was right. The paper was water damaged, and yet he could still make out the ornate design on the envelope. And written out on top, read the letters  _ E L _ before the rest was obscured by stains.

The letter was from his mother. His biological mother.

The script was elegant. Almost illegible, and not from age, but the intricate calligraphy it was written in.

El never paid much thought to his biological parents. They were never of any matter to him. But now, knowing this.. knowing that he was not just abandoned, that he was not just left to fate to decide if he lived or if he died… and that, on top of everything else, he was the prince of a kingdom he had never even heard of?

“It’s from someone important to you, right?” Erik asked, “don’t worry about it, you can tell me later. What’s the other one?”

Of course. He didn’t have the luxury of time to process this all right now. Setting the first letter down safely, El took the second in hand. The paper was fresher, and the script much less elegant.

It was Chalky’s handwriting.

It was simple. It was straightforward and without any of the embellishments that his mother's letter had, but in each word of this letter, El knew how much Chalky loved him. How much he wanted to help.

_ Don’t waste your time bearing grudges, and live life with love in your heart. _

_ All the best, now and forever, Grandad. _

Erik clapped his hand onto his shoulder.

Had El been reading aloud?

“Come on,” Erik said, “just the King’s Barrow now, and then we’ll be on our way.”

~~

_ Just  _ the Kings’ Barrow, he said.

They’d climbed the stairs as quietly as they could after seeing the guard post at the bottom, lanterns lit but empty. They’d expected to have to sneak around, and possibly fight to get the orb.

They hadn’t expected to walk into a bloodbath.

Corpses littered the entrance to the tomb, blood pooling beneath them, dark and drying.

They hadn’t been dead for very long.

Whatever had killed them could very well still be inside.

_ Come on,  _ Erik said to him,  _ let’s get moving. That Orb is important, we can’t let just any old thief make off with it. _

He was trying to make light of this. But El could see the green tinge to his skin, and knew he was more disturbed by the sight than he let on.

The maze was simple enough, and the monsters inside were hiding in corners and under rubble.

Cold unease pricked at El’s skin.

These monsters weren’t hiding from  _ them _ . There’s no way. With frizz being the hardest hitting attack between them, they were hardly dangerous.

Whatever killed those soldiers was definitely still inside. 

But, that meant that the orb was, too.

They stopped at two stone doors. The last room left unexplored. 

He could hear voices inside.

“This is it,” Erik said, ready to throw the doors open. “You ready for a fight?”

“Ready.” El said, drawing his sword, ready to strike first.

The doors flew open, and El lunged, sword making contact with the first of two grim gryphons.

His attack gave them no time to prepare, and no warning with which to retaliate.

Erik leapt in behind him, knife hitting the monster in a vital spot, vaporizing the creature on impact.

One down, and one to go.

The second gryphon screeched in fury, but his claws only bounced off El’s raised shield. In the moment it was off-balance, El cast frizz, and Erik slipped in the moment the flames disappeared to land his own attack.

Together they made short work of the two would-be thieves, and Erik made his way to the pedestal to pick up the Red Orb.

“Never thought I’d get this back.” Erik said, looking over the smooth surface for any chips or cracks, “escaping Heliodor, getting the orb, I think I’ll stick with you awhile longer. You’re turning out to be quite the lucky charm.” Erik put the treasure away safely, and turned to El. “The Door of Departure is just east of here. Let’s get going.”

-

The old ruin came into sight as the sun began to lift above the cliff side. They were nearly there, to what Chalky had promised.

And then, the  _ click _ of hooves on stone, Erik and El whipped around to look, and there, high above them, Helidoran soldiers on horseback.

Hendrick leading the charge.

“Did you really think you could escape me, Darkspawn?” His voice reverberated off the stone, and the horses charged, running down the slope, quickly closing the distance.

“Damnit!” Erik swore, turning around to run.

If only his wing wasn’t torn, El wished, but he still wasn’t outdone. 

The change took mere seconds before El took his dragon form again, cutting Erik off.

_ Get on!  _

By now, they were used to this. Using El’s horns as leverage, Erik swung his legs over El’s neck as he would a horse. 

El took off at a sprint, pushing himself more than he had even in the dungeons, when he heard Hendrick call “ _ Fire! _ ” From far behind them.

The arrow missed its mark, sailing past El’s side to bury itself deep into the earth.

A blue glow shone somewhere in the corner of his vison, and only grew brighter as Erik pulled the keystone from his bag. 

“Hurry!” Erik called over the wind in their ears, “they’re not going to stop at one shot!”

“You shall not escape me, Darkspawn!” 

Somewhere between the rush of adrenaline, and the pumping of fear in his veins, El wanted to roll his eyes. Had the man ever anything else to say?

But the moment didn’t last long, as El heard another arrow fly, and this time meet its mark.

Pain blossomed across his haunches, impeding his run and sending him rolling across the earth.

The pain didn’t last long, numbed by the panic. Erik was only a few feet away, and getting to his feet, staring in dismay at the wood of the arrow sticking out from El’s body, and at the rapidly approaching enemy.

“We need to run.” Erik said, doing what he could to help the dragon to his feet. “Now!”

El stood shakily, holding his injured hind leg up off the ground. 

The door was open, they were so close.

El had one shot. 

He halted, turned his head, and called up his fire as quickly as he could.

No time to make it as hot or as fierce as he could, but the heat and smoke was enough to halt even the most well trained horses.

“Come  _ on _ !” Erik yelled, shoving the dragon in front of him.

They made it through the threshold just as the smoke cleared. 

The door was closing, and through the gap, El met Hendrick’s eyes. He was on the ground, thrown off his horse, but he did not look defeated.

“Do you think you have won?” 

Blue light began to envelope El.

“The game has not even begun!” 

Hendricks' words echoed even as the doors slammed shut, and El was transported elsewhere.

There was nothing for a moment, and then the blue light returned.

El and Erik found themselves in a structure much like the one on the emerald coast, only this time, they were safe. 

Energy bottoming out, El felt his legs begin to tremble before they gave way completely.

He hit the stone floor hard, but the  _ thud _ as his jaw hit the floor was only a raindrop in comparison to the storm of pain where the arrow had hit him.

“Oh, good lord.” El heard Erik’s voice, but it sounded far away.

He opened his eyes, and turned his head. 

Erik’s hands were just above the fletching. 

He met El’s eyes. “I can’t pull this out.” Erik said. “I don’t know how deep it is.”

El let his head meet the stone floor again. 

“You need help. Professional help.” Erik dropped his hands back to his sides. “How the hell am I supposed to get you that?”


	4. And Into The Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I can’t believe I’m lecturing you about your own biology!” Veronica shouted, and began counting off on her fingers. “The cold is bad, Iron is bad, how have you lived your life not learning this?”

Erik leaned against the wooden stakes surrounding the outside of the village. 

He had his hood pulled up, and he was halfway into the shadow. 

He was silent, near invisible.

No one looked twice. No one really noticed.

He watched the villagers mill about their daily lives, shopping, eating, talking. He saw visitors to the village, those who have travelled long from their own homes to visit Hotto, to take a break in the hot springs they were known for.

They were the ones he was looking for. 

He noted how they carried themselves, what they had to defend themselves with. 

For the most part, those that carried weapons carried swords.

It wasn’t unreasonable to think that someone who fancied themselves a warrior or a minstrel would know a healing spell or two, but the trouble there would be getting past the blade.

Erik was looking for a mage. A healer. He needed someone who had magical energy, but no real attack power.

A priest, a mage if nothing else.

And that’s when he saw her.

Walking down the stairs that climbed to the forge, there was a girl. Tall and slender, long blonde hair and wearing a long green dress.

But none of that was what Erik’s eyes landed on.

At her hip, was a wand. 

A white magic user, and judging from her clothing, not from around here. Perfect.

He watched her move around the town, speaking to nearly everyone in her path. 

She looked upset, and a part of Erik, the part of him that would give everything for Mia, told him not to do this. 

But that same part knew he had to.

He waited until she walked outside of the village. And waited a few moments more.

And followed.

She was just past the village gate when he caught up to her.

She was sitting on a rock, her face in her hands.

It was secluded, the volcanic rock would obstruct the view of anyone, as long as they didn’t look too closely.

His steps were silent as he approached. She didn’t notice him until a gleam of sunlight reflected off his knife.

She was not crying. 

She was calm as she lifted her hands, and stood slowly. 

“I have no money.” She told him. “I have nothing valuable.”

He kept the point of his knife trained on her.

“You’re a healer?” He demanded. 

She nodded, glancing between the point of his blade and his obscured face.

“Then you’ve got what I need.” He said, “Your name?” 

“Serena.” She answered, voice flat. “I’m Serena.”

“Alright, Serena.” Erik stood back, giving back the smallest amount of space he could. “This is what’s going to happen. My friend, he’s at the door of departure. He’s injured. Badly. You’re going to come with me, and you’re going to heal him.”

Serena’s expression changed. She looked confused. “He’s injured?” She repeated, “you want me to heal him?”

“Yes.” Erik said, his hands were  _ not  _ shaking. He was  _ not _ about to lose this.

Serena’s hands went back down to her sides. She didn’t reach for a weapon, she didn’t call up any offensive spells. “I’ll help. Of course I’ll help. Why didn’t you just ask?” 

Why didn’t he just ask?  _ Why didn’t he just ask _ ? There were so many reasons. So many questions  _ they  _ could ask in turn. Why so far from town? Why didn’t you bring him here? What are you willing to pay? And then, even past all  _ that, _ there was the fact he was asking them to heal a  _ dragon _ .

Erik had an entire plan. 

And now… he’d stumbled upon who had to be the stupidest, or just the kindest, girl on the planet.

“You’ll just help him?” Erik pressed, “no questions asked?”

“Of course.” Serena said, now that Erik moved the knife away. “It’s clearly important. Where did you say he is?” She pushed past him, not a worry in her mind as she moved down towards the path. She looked at him over her shoulder. “It’s bad, right? We’ll need to get a move on.”

“It… he’s to the east.” Erik said, hurrying to catch up. “Just about as far as the road goes.”

Her guard was completely down. Erik nearly let himself relax, too, but if this was an act..

He couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t risk her running off and warning the town. 

So, the whole walk. He kept his knife drawn. He kept close.

Serena kept silent. She walked with purpose, only stopping at forks in the road, not a glance towards Hotto or the campsite.

And at last, as the sun was beginning to set, Erik saw the temple.

This was going to be the hard part.

As the doors closed behind them, Erik stood between Serena and the exit. 

The room was dark, but a blue glow began to emit from a rune on the floor, illuminating the dragon laying stone still in the corner.

Serena wouldn’t notice, but Erik did. His scales were not the golden color they should be. Instead, they were overtaken by a gray tinge, dulling their shine. The horns on his head had also changed, going from their regular tan to a pitch black. 

At the noise of the doors closing, El opened his eyes, and even those baby blues had dulled.

Serena gasped at the sight, but to Erik’s surprise, she did not turn to run. 

Instead, she came closer to the dragon, got down to the floor before him, and reached out a hand. 

“Oh, who did this to you?” She asked, and not to Erik.

“You can help him?” Erik asked her, feeling safe enough to move away from the door, and closer to his friend. 

Serena looked over her shoulder at him. “I’m from Arboria. This won’t be the first time I’ve treated a dragon. What’s all happened to him? He isn’t talking.”

_ Arboria.  _ Not far from Sniflheim, and from what Erik had heard, crawling with dragons. And she’d healed them before?

Erik knelt down. “Around his neck, there was a chain.” He pointed to the cut that ran along his side, “here, a soldier got him with a broadsword, his wing is ripped right there, and a crossbow shot the arrow that’s lodged in his leg.”

Serena’s hands began to glow with a soft light. The puffiness around El’s throat had already begun to heal, but as the healing spells were cast, it faded entirely. 

Serena’s brow creased as she moved to the long cut. “This wound isn’t new… it should’ve been treated before now. I’m sorry, this is going to scar.” The wound changed with the light, but unlike the other, this one didn’t fade entirely. Cutting through the scales was now one long raised pink line. 

Erik didn’t know how El would feel about that. How large the scar was, and so visible in contrast to his scales. But Erik felt only relief. 

The wound was a source of stress for him as they travelled. The sheer size of it, and the unfortunate placement meant that it was constantly being moved, and constantly being reopened. The risk of it being infected had only grown and grown.

But then, as Serena moved her hands away, she left the arrow alone.

“This one is going to require more work.” She explained to Erik. “It’s a good thing you didn’t try to take it out on your own.” She took the shaft of the arrow in hand, and moved it gently. Fresh blood began to drip from the wound, and El let out a pained sound, low and long. “I don’t have any of the right equipment to take this out properly.”

Serena removed her hands from the arrow and looked to Erik.

“I never got your name.” She said to him.

“Erik.”

“Alright, Erik,” Serena’s hands began to glow anew as she prepared the spell again. “This needs to happen as fast as possible. I need you to pull the arrow out, and pull it out at the angle it’s gone in at.” 

Erik took the arrow in both hands, and braced himself against the floor.

“I’m afraid this is going to hurt.” Serena said to El, and then gave Erik a nod. On the count of three.”

“One.” Erik felt sick.

“Two.” The glow of magic made it hard to see the puncture of the arrow. 

“ _ Three! _ ” Erik pulled back as hard as he could, and the arrow came free. The healing spell Serena casted turned the entire room a bright white, and then, for a moment, everything was silent. 

The wound was gone when the light faded. The only evidence the skin was ever broken was the blood that had dripped onto the floor, and the arrow in Erik’s hand.

El himself was rigid, smoke pouring out from between his clenched jaws. 

One last spell from Serena had him relax, and fall into a deep, painless sleep.

Serena stood, and motioned Erik towards the door.

Outside, the sun has fully set, and the moon is all they have to see by. 

Serena sits on the stairs, and pats the ground next to her.

Erik takes the invitation, and awkwardly, “I’m sorry I tried to mug you.”

“I understand.” Serena said, “the people here don’t care very much for dragons.” 

They were quiet for a spell, the only sounds to be heard was an owl, calling somewhere off in the distance, and the even quieter music playing from the village of Hotto. 

Serena was turning the arrow over in her hands, wiping off the blood on a handkerchief. “This arrowhead is likely made from iron.” She lifted it up, looking at the way the light reflected from it. “Iron is like poison to dragons. Saps their energy, makes them sick.”

“Is that so.” Erik watched as she set the arrow to the side. That would explain why El couldn’t escape the dungeon on his own, if the shackle was made from iron. 

“You didn’t know?”

Erik shook his head. “Can’t say I know much of anything about dragons, besides what’s said about them in stories.”

“And yet you’re taking care of one? Have you not asked him anything?”

Erik thought of all the bottled up questions he had. All the time he wanted to stop and grill El about what exactly he was, why exactly these things kept happening. “Haven’t had the time.”

“Well, you have time now.” Serena said, “he’s going to need some rest, and some medicine.” She paused for a moment. “It may be too much to ask, but I need to ask you a favor. In return for healing your dragon.”

_ Your dragon _ felt weird to hear, but Erik left it alone for now. They’d just escaped Hendrick’s pursuit, and they certainly didn’t need anyone else coming after the Luminary just yet. 

“I lost my sister, in Hotto. I... I can’t get her back on my own. These horrid monsters ambushed us, and before I knew it, they had her.” Serena bunched the skirt of her dress in her hands. “No one in Hotto would help me.”

Erik looked back at the closed doors to the temple. He didn’t want to make any decision without El, but he really did owe this girl. After everything she’s done to help, everything she’s promised to do to help, he couldn’t just leave her and her sister without any sort of thanks. 

And besides, it’s not as if they have any real destination just yet.

Serena was right. They have time right now.

~~

They’d returned inside the temple to sleep for the night. It was hardly comfortable, somehow even less so than sleeping in the open at a campsite, but for now it was the safest option. Even if it had been suggested, Erik wouldn’t have left El here alone to go back to Hotto to find an inn.

And so, he’d ended up much in the way he had when he woke up after their leap of faith from the cliff in Heliodor.

Erik sat with his back supported by El’s side, and he’d taken the dragon’s head and pillowed it in his lap.

Serena had fallen asleep near instantly. She was snoring lightly from where she unpacked her bedroll near the door.

Erik felt his own exhaustion creeping up on him, but he found himself sleepless. The corners of his eyes burned and he could feel his limbs ache. They’d hardly had time for rest or sleep until now, and even now, it was more because they had to stop than that they wanted to. 

Erik stared off into space, his hands moving idly over El’s scales, drawing meaningless patterns. 

He continued even as his eyes felt heavy, and when his head came to rest against a now healed wing.

It felt as if no time had passed at all when he felt something scaly bump his cheek. Erik’s eyes shot open, and he realized he was looking directly into El’s.

His eyes were their proper blue color, even brighter than Erik had seen them. It was hard to tell in the shadowy temple, but he could guess that his scales would have regained their illustrious golden glow as well.

Then those eyes looked away, and Erik followed them to where Serena was already awake, sitting up and plucking idly at strings of her harp.

“She’s safe.” Erik said, understanding what El was not saying. “Serena’s been healing you.”

Serena smiled at them both. “It’s no trouble.”

El changed, and Erik did his best not to groan. He should’ve said something right away. They didn’t need rumors about a shape changing man following them, and healer or not, Erik was not quite ready to entrust their safety to a stranger.

But the change was made, and Erik was no longer lounging against a dragon, but sitting shoulder to shoulder with a much more human person.

“Thank you.” El said to her, making no move to make any space between himself and Erik. He stretched out his wing and turned his head to look it over.

The membrane was no longer split in two. The shimmery greenish-silver broken only by an off-colored line where the cut once was. He should be able to fly again.

Serena’s eyes were wide as she saw the transformation. “A-again, it’s no trouble, um…” 

“El.” 

Serena smiled again, “it’s no trouble at all, El!” 

Erik was the first to stand. “Now, listen. In exchange for helping you, we’re going to help Serena find her sister.” 

El stood, wobbly for just a moment, before he managed to steady himself. 

“I managed to track the monsters to an old ruin, west of here, the locals call it the Cryptic Crypt. I can’t go in on my own. My offensive spells aren’t the most powerful, but I can promise to keep you both going with my heals and hymns.” Serena joined them, her wand in her hands. “Veronica is no slouch with magic. She’s the one who got all the talent with black magic.”

_ I hope it’s okay I told her we’d help?  _ Erik asked El silently. 

“Of course we'll help.” El said aloud, answering Erik’s question, and accepting Serena’s offer of aid. 

“We’ll take it slow.” Serena said, “it’s quite the trek to the crypt, not to mention what could be inside. Iron sickness is nothing to sneeze at.” Her tone took on a more serious note. “That arrowhead did quite a number on you.”

El looked taken back. “Iron sickness?”

“When you’re near iron, or when it touches you, you get weak, and sick.” Serena explained, “don’t you? I saw it last night, and I’m used to having to treat some dragons for it, but…” she trailed off. As many dragons as she’d seen, as many tamed ones that lived alongside their keepers in her home, not one had the ability to change from dragon form to human form. 

In fact, El’s dragon form looked like none she’d seen before. Perhaps…

But El’s eyes lit up in understanding. “I didn’t know it had a name. I’d only had trouble with it once before, someone traveling through my village traded us some new tools in exchange for food and a place to sleep, but I’ve never been able to use them comfortably.”

Erik stood silent as the two spoke. He had nothing to add, and felt a little disconcerted. He hadn’t heard El speak this much in the handful of days he’d known him, and yet here he was, spilling to a stranger.

But then again, there really wasn’t time for any conversation, they’d been running constantly from the moment they saw each other.

“The crypt, how far is it exactly?” Erik asked, not interrupting, but feeling like he was all the same. 

“As west as the mountain pass goes.” Serena answered, “there’s a campsite just past Hotto, but if we skip past it we should be there by noon.”

“What about monsters? How strong are they?”

“I’m not sure.” 

Erik sighed, but gestures at the door. “We’d better get going. Every moment we waste is another moment your sister is trapped.”

“I could fly us.” El cut in. 

Both Erik and Serena turned to look at him, and he flushed. “If my wing is healed, it shouldn’t be too hard to carry you both.”

Skeptical, Erik asked, “How many people have you flown around before?” He’d ridden on his neck twice now, and while it wasn’t much unlike a horse, flying sounded like an entirely different story. The thought of being so far off the ground, and the only thing between him and the ground was his own grip… no, thank you.

“You shouldn’t push yourself too hard.” Serena said, “and besides, I couldn’t recommend it. The people around Hotto and Gallopolis do not take well to dragons. The wolf dragons here are vicious, they take people and livestock, and I can’t guarantee you wouldn’t be shot at again if they spotted you.”

“Then I’ll run, it’ll be faster than walking, and it isn’t exertion. I’ve been a packhorse before, for my village when new houses were built.” Not waiting for any further arguments, he changed back.  _ You’re lighter than a load of lumber, I’m sure. _

Erik grinned, and let the dragon walk past him and through the door. He didn’t really know El yet, but Erik knew he’d scored high with him as his new partner.

~~

The entrance to the cryptic crypt was unassuming, and the monsters weaker than what Erik had expected. Though, to be fair, it would’ve been much harder to navigate if they didn’t have a dragon that could test out the pitfalls and just fly back up if necessary.

But even with that advantage, the crypt would’ve had a more accurate name in  _ labyrinth.  _

The twists and turns were few, but each wall and tunnel were nearly identical. Old, faded stone, dust in corners, crumbling brick… it doesn’t take much to get turned around on yourself when everything around you was identical.

But at the very least it wasn’t up to Erik to decide their path. El had taken it upon himself to lead the way, now that his wounds were healed, he’d come out of the shell that Erik had known him in. 

A call of  _ “frizz!”  _ and a small burst of light down another corridor caught Erik’s attention. Warm firelight lit again and again, at a rapid fire pace, 

Unless the monsters had managed to capture not one, but two fire-wielding mages, that should be Veronica.

Serena took off at a run, recognizing the voice and the feel of the spell in the air instantly, El and Erik at her heels. The small corridor opened into a larger room, pillars holding up the ceiling, tiles fallen and broken in the corners.

And in the center of the room, a small child dressed in red stood, her dress dirtied, and surrounded by walking corpses. 

A monster that on its own didn’t stand as too much of a threat, though in any greater number could prove to be a nuisance, and to a child, they could surely be deadly.

Erik rushed in, knife drawn. 

A light blue aura surrounded the little mage, and she stood just a little straighter, casting a relieved glance over her shoulder to her new allies.

Now with a group, the monsters fell easily. 

El and Erik attacked in sync, one after another in a way that was new, but natural for them both.

The last corpse fled, and Erik stood down, sheathing his knife, and standing back to back with El. 

Veronica shouted out insults at the retreating monster, words that Erik cringed at coming from the mouth of a child that couldn’t be older than ten, but said nothing. Surely Serena wouldn’t take too kindly to him scolding her little sister, and really, he couldn’t fault her too much considering the situation.

Though he did wonder where she learned that kind of language with a sibling like Serena.

Veronica spun on her heel, tiny hands on her tiny hips, and a huge grin plastered over her face. “Took you long enough!” She pointed up at her sister, “I was about to head off to look for you when you finally showed up!”

“Veronica?” Serena kneeled down to be on eye-level with her sister. “I hardly recognized you!”

That hardly sounded right. “This is her, right?” Erik asked, “your sister?” 

Serena looked back at where he and El stood, “yes,” she said, “this is Veronica.”

“And I’m her twin.” Veronica butted in, holding up a finger. “Her  _ older _ twin.” 

Erik shared a glance with El. “I’m sure.” 

Veronica scowled at him, the way her face scrunched up doing nothing to alter Erik’s opinion. She began to argue, but Erik cut her off.

“Later, we’re not going to be left alone here long, we need to get back outside, and get you back to town.”

“Hardly!” Veronica snapped at him, “there’s a bigger monster further in, and he’s got my magic. I’m not leaving here both looking like a child, and with the same amount of magical power I had when I was  _ actually  _ this small!

“Besides,” she continued on, “I’m not the only person they’ve taken! You don’t expect me to go while there are still prisoners, do you?”

El spoke up. “Of course not.” 

Veronica finally noticed him. 

She blinked twice, dumbfounded for a moment, and Erik nearly groaned.

Could anyone look at El without turning into a fool?

But her open-mouthed shock turned to a smug smirk easily. “Good.” She said, “I can show you the way, it isn’t too much farther.” She turned and began walking, leaving the rest of the group to stumble behind her.

Peering around the doorway, the monsters in question were easily seen, not a care to the open door or any notice taken to those standing just out of sight.

“Ooh, this is jars!” The big one complained, scolding the two paper-thin shadows that flanked it. “All my plans, shattered!” 

“Lord of Shadows?” Erik muttered, just loud enough for his companions to hear. 

“Nevermind that for now,” Veronica hissed, “see that jar? That’s what they’ve sucked all my magic into.”

“Oh, dear!” Serena’s meek exclamation alerted everyone, and Veronica screamed when she turned, her face only inches away from another shadow creature.

Erik stumbled back, through the opened doors.

“Ooh, how I do love guests!” The monster said, eyeing the group. “Especially when they bring me presents! If it isn’t the one who got away.” His attention was easily diverted when he caught sight of El. “And this one… this one has plenty of magic, too.”

The two shadows went down easy, with only a few attacks. With Veronica weakened the way she was, her spells didn’t do much but chip away at their defenses, but it was better than nothing. 

Serena stayed in the back lines, but was more help than Erik had thought.

The shadows were easy, but Jarvis’s breath attack hit hard, and he wasn’t exactly conservative with it.

El brought his sword down hard on the beast, the blade enveloped in flame. 

The creature stumbled, and Erik took the opening to make a slash at its belly with the edge of his poisoned knife.

A purple glow surrounded Jarvis for a moment, purple froth around its mouth. Erik had managed to poison him.

The venom slowed Jarvis’s movements, addled his mind, so his next attack hit much lighter than the previous ones had.

It hadn’t taken long to get the upper hand.

“Frizz!” Veronica cast another spell, and although she was weakened, a hit was a hit.

Jarvis tried to shield himself, but in forgoing an attack, El was able to land a finishing blow.

Jarvis fell back, eyes rolling in his skull. He moaned something about the Lord of Shadows again. “All my dreams.. shattered.”

“Who is this Lord of Shadows?” Erik demanded, but the beast only laughed.

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Jarvis said, his body dissolving into a cloud of purple smoke. “When everything… goes to pot.”

Foreboding sat like a rock in Erik’s stomach. “Soon enough, huh?”

Veronica moved past him, heading straight for the jar. “Took long enough!” Standing on the tips of her toes, she slid the lid from the top, and let it clatter to the floor below. “Hope this works…”

Purple smoke, not unlike what Jarvis had come, burst forth from the jar and swirled to the top of the room before it came right back down, enveloping Veronica in its glow.

The magic swirled and pulsed, and finally dissipated, leaving Veronica standing where she was, looking exactly the same.

Serena’s shoulders dropped. “I don’t understand.” She said, “nothing’s changed!”

“Nothing’s changed, she says!” Veronica tutted, summoning a small wisp of flame in the palm of her hand. She let it grow for a moment, before snapping her fingers and smothering it. “I can feel all my magic back now!”

“But… you’re still a child!” 

Veronica stopped, and looked at her hands, as if she honestly hadn’t noticed. 

“Oh,” her hands dropped back down to her sides, but she only looked upset for a moment. “Oh, well. I guess it’ll take a bit more than that to restore my age.” A smile grew on her face, “I guess it’s like they say, you’re only young twice!”

Serena managed a small laugh. “I suppose you would find a funny side to all this.” She took a sideways glance at El, and leaned down to her sister, covering her mouth with a hand but doing nothing to lower her voice. “You’ve noticed who we're with, haven’t you?”

“But of course.”

“Bold Luminary,

Yggdrasil’s chosen.

We of Arboria swear to protect you.

While we live none shall defeat you.”

Erik crossed his arms. “So you know who he is?”

“Of course we do, you dunce!” Veronica scoffed, “the evidence is stamped onto the back of his hand, after all!”

El shifted, “Just my hand?” He asked.

Veronicas brows furrowed, but she seemed to understand what he was saying. “Just your hand.” She repeated, waving a hand at him to indicate his dragon features, “I don’t know anything about the Luminary being part monster. None of the illustrations of Erdwin looked like you.”

“I see.” El said, his voice quiet.

“There are those who would accuse you of bringing disaster on our world. Please, you must rest assured that they are wrong.” Serena added on to her pledge, “You are a hero. The light in your eyes… the light told of in the legends of Arboria… it proves that without a doubt.”

“We knew who you were the moment we saw you.” Veronica claimed.

Erik smiled as El looked uncomfortable with all the attention on him. “Not that I ever doubted you, but I guess you really are the Luminary.”

“We have a legend in Arboria,” Serena pressed on, “that one day the Dark One will descend to extinguish the light from the world, but the Luminary, Yggdrasil’s chosen, will rise up to meet him.

“I know it’s hard to believe, I mean, just  _ look  _ at you!” Veronica said.

If it was meant to be a joke, it was in bad taste. Erik saw El cringe back ever so slightly. You’d think as someone else stuck in an unusual form, she’d have more sympathy.

“But it’s true!” She continued on, either not noticing or not caring about El’s discomfort. “You’re the reincarnation of the Luminary. The man who defeated the dark one long, long ago.”

Erik frowned, “if he was defeated, then why bring the Luminary back?” He asked.

Veronica merely shrugged. “It’s not our place to wonder why, or who, or how. It’s merely to guide the Luminary to Yggdrasil. I’m sure it’ll all become clear eventually.”

“Yggdrasil, huh? Well, let’s get going on over there. I’d like to know what’s going on about this ‘Lord of Shadows.’”

“Honestly!” Veronica rolls her eyes, “as if it’s that easy. But if you’ve got a way to get up to the  _ giant floating tree  _ in the sky, do please share.”

As if he’d meant it would be easy. Child or not, Erik was just about ready to give her a smack over the head.

“They say the Luminary visited Yggdrasil before he confronted the Dark One, but the legends do not say how.” Serena added on.

“What?” Erik asked, trying to force as much sarcasm as he could muster into his voice, “not even you special protectors of the magical ancient wonder truths know?  _ Bummer _ .”

Erik felt a hand on his shoulder, and met El’s eyes. 

_ Don’t be rude. _

Erik wanted to reply with  _ she started it!  _ But knew it would gain him no points.

_ Sorry.  _ He settled with instead.

“Well, we can figure out the ifs and hows later.” Veronica said, “we’re forgetting ourselves, there are more people being held here, like I said.” She glanced around, before pointing at the door on the far side of the room. “Through there.” 

The room branched off into multiple cells, but only one was still occupied. A man with dark blue hair stood, startled by the sudden noise.

“You’re safe, the monsters are gone now.” Veronica approached the cell door with both hands raised, trying to appear non-threatening.

_ As if she would be threatening either way. _

A short exhale next to him told Erik that El had heard him.

The cell door opened, and Erik got a good look at the man. He recognized him, surely… he just couldn’t quite place him.

“Thank you, thank you so much.” He said, “please, if you ever need anything, I’m Noah.”

_ Noah! _ “Noah the know-it-all?” Erik asked, standing just a little taller.

Noah startled, but as he tried to make a break for it, Erik caught him around the arm. “Take it easy!” Erik said, “I know you from my old line of work, not a wanted poster.”

Noah didn’t relax.

“You were always giving out information… for the right price. I’d say your freedom is a pretty hefty payment. Think you could spare a little gossip?”

“That's really all you want?” Noah asked, taking his arm back. 

“We need to know about Yggdrasil.” Erik said, gesturing to the rest of his group. 

“Blimey, you got a score in mind?” Noah asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. 

Probably for the best, they didn’t need too much information about their journey or the purpose of it going to someone who made a living off gossip and rumor. 

“I do know something.” Noah said, “I came to Hotto through Gallopolis not too long ago. Ran outta food and water, thought it was the end for me. But then, I woke up, in the Sultan’s palace of all places! There was this treasure, something they had on display like it was nothing! It was beautiful, this branch, shimmering with every color. I may not know for sure, but if it didn’t come from Yggdrasil herself… well, I wouldn’t be much in this profession if I couldn’t tell top-end loot when I saw it, would I?”

“A branch…” Serena echoed, “from the World Tree. ‘Lighting the path ahead for the Luminary.. just like in the story, Veronica, do you think?”

Veronica nodded slowly, thinking. “Yes… I think we should pay a visit to the sultan.”

“The border of Gallopolis isn’t far from here at all,” Serena explained to El, just south-west. I hope you don’t mind us tagging along.” She said, her words directed at both El and Erik. 

“Not all all.” Erik answered when El only nodded, “a healer like you? You’ll be invaluable.”

“That’s all you need, then?” Noah said, “I won’t forgot what you’ve done here.” He glanced at El, looking him up and down, “and as just a little extra present… I won’t go blathering about your friend here.”

Erik didn’t trust him. He trusted the information he gave… but he didn’t trust he’d keep his word. Any information for the right price, he’d used to say. And Erik would be willing to bet there were more than a few people willing to shell out gold coins by the thousand for sightings of their dear Luminary here,

“Right, then” Erik said, ready to make distance between himself and the Hotto Steppe, “to Gallopolis?” 

“To Gallopolis.” El said.

~~

Noah split from their group at the campsite, heading through the dark of night back to Hotto, while Erik and the party settled down around the glow of their campfire.

“We’ll leave for Gallopolis at first light.” Veronica took the liberty of deciding right after she and her sister laid out their bedrolls.

Erik tried to find the most tactful way to ask these ladies if they were actually ready to take on this kind of journey. Bedrolls and plush pillows aside, Erik could almost excuse them, he was used to sleeping on the ground or up against crates and logs, but perhaps that was more his upbringing than any real advantage, they wanted to trek through a desert in the sun. All Erik knew of Arboria was that it was known for being stuck up and posh.

“Maybe we should leave now?” He suggested, “it won’t do any of us any good if we get heatstroke.”

The group remained silent, the only noise being the pop and crackle of the fire.

“You’re serious?” Veronica asked, “you want to take  _ the dragon  _ through the desert, at night?”

“I-“ Erik turned to El., who only shrugged, just as confused as he was. “-yes?” 

Veronica groaned, over-exaggerating her frustration by holding her hands up in defeat. “Don’t you at least know that no matter how hot the desert is during the day, it gets unbearably cold at night?”

“Of course,” Erik said as El shook his head.

“Then surely you’d know why it would be a bad idea to travel there overnight?” Serena asked, much kinder than her sister.

Again, El only shrugged.

“I can’t believe I’m lecturing you about  _ your own biology _ !” Veronica shouted, and began counting off on her fingers. “The  _ cold  _ is bad,  _ Iron  _ is bad, how have you lived your life not learning this?”

“Not much in my village was made from iron.” El explained, “and winters are hard on everyone. The rocks would frost over, so no one went outside until the sun was out. I just thought everyone slowed down in the cold months.”

Before Veronica could pop a vein, “Serena reached out to push her back down gently into her bedroll. “Perhaps he isn’t as weak to these things as a regular dragon would be,” she suggested, “what about your family?”

Erik watched El closely. 

He didn’t move, didn’t speak, but there was tension in the air that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

His mouth was a straight line, and his eyes were on the stone ground in front of him as he answered.

“I don’t know.” He settled on, “my family found me as a baby. I never knew my blood relatives. I’ve never met anyone else like me.”

He was silent again, and Erik picked up what was left unsaid. They couldn’t even ask his family, or his village. Not anymore.

“King Carnelian ordered his village to be destroyed.” Erik explained for his partner, keeping his voice low but steady, “when we left it last… all that was left was rubble. We don’t know what’s become of his family.” 

Serena had brought her hands up to cover her mouth, while Veronica went quiet. 

“I’m so sorry.” Serena said, moving her hands down, holding them tight above her chest, Boeing her head slightly to offer a prayer. 

Veronica didn’t join, but instead pressed on again about El’s dragon half. “Then we should err on the safe side, and go in the day. The heat from the sun should do wonders for your health, and Serena can cast some spells that should keep the rest of us safe from the sun. Since you don’t know much,” she continued, “if you have any questions about dragons, just ask! Serena and I have helped raise dragon whelps for years, we’re  _ practically  _ experts.”

“Now that’s hardly true,” Serena chided her sister, “we helped the priest take care of  _ one  _ brood last year, and you hardly did anything but hold them!”

Erik tried to keep up with the argument that started, but gave up quickly in favor of just speaking to El. 

“You know what?” He got up, and motioned for El to follow, “I’ve got something for you.” 

It was a quick thing to set up, and when he was finished, he stood back for El to look. “The fun-sized forge! Derk and I..  _ acquired  _ it a while back. I don’t know what kind of magic it uses, but sweating over a hot forge was never really my style anyway. Think you’d get any use out of it?”

Instead of replying, El bent to pick up the hammer. He tested its weight, and brought the metal head down lightly in his other palm. 

_ Never forged anything more than horseshoes before.  _

Erik heard El’s voice in his head, and responded in kind.

_ I’ve got a manual around somewhere,  _ he offered,  _ but it’s pretty simple to learn.  _ Erik liked being able to speak to El like this, his words easily heard, even over the drone of the twins continued bickering.  _ I bet you’d be good at it, especially with your fire breathing.  _

“I can’t breathe fire in human form.” El said aloud. “Sometimes I can make smoke if I’m upset enough, but never fire.” He said it off-handedly, and that meant something.

To Erik. It meant that he was trusted, enough that El had no qualms about sharing things about himself.

“Oy!” 

The duo turned to see Veronica, still seated where she was.

“Get back over here! We’ve got a plan to make!”

~~

El was not a fan of the plan.

He felt like a fool, walking into the desert city of Gallopolis, cloaked in a floor-length cape, the hood pulled up over his head.

It hardly hid anything. His tail-tip poking out from under the grayish-brown fabric when his mind wandered away from keeping it pulled up tight, his wings felt trapped inside it, and the hood tented oddly over his horns, the fabric pulled taut.

The shimmer of an illusion spell glinted in front of his eyes, and the world was colored purple around him. 

It wasn’t a particularly strong spell. It didn’t obscur him completely from sight, but as long as no one looked too closely, they shouldn’t notice anything amiss.

“We only need the rainbough, and then we can be on our way.” 

“We’ve got a dragon,” Erik pointed out, “I don’t see why we can’t just take it from the palace-“

“You say you have a dragon?” El startled, turning to see a man enshrouded not unlike he was himself, standing  _ far  _ too close, hands balled into fists, and staring pleadingly at the group. “A tamed one?”

“Well, in a sense-“ Serena began, but was quickly cut off. 

“It wouldn’t happen to be one of those horrible spitzfire monsters, would it?” 

“No, he’s-“ Erik was quickly cut off as well.

“Oh, it’s of no matter! I heard you speak of the rainbough, I can offer you the treasure, but in exchange, I need to ask you a favor.” The man glanced around, as if he was checking to be sure no one was watching, but did it in such an obvious way, that even if no one was looking before, there surely was now. “The city has ears! It’s not safe to talk here, meet me at the circus, there’s a show tonight. We can talk there, yes?”

“Alright.” El said, “we’ll join you there.” 

The man threw back his head and laughed joyously, “perfect! I’ll find you when the show starts, and don’t worry about money, I’ll pay for your tickets.”

“Wait-“ Erik tried again, but the man was off, walking away at a march, leaving four very, very confused people behind. 

“Now hold on,” Erik said, turning to face El, “why did you say yes? We’ve got no idea who that man is, or what he wants with a  _ dragon _ ! And how exactly are we going to provide him with one?”

“We can at least see what he wants. All we agreed to do was meet him.” Serena offered. “We do need the rainbough.”

“And how does he have access to it?” Veronica asked, “Noah said it's in the palace. I doubt they wouldn’t notice it missing.”

~~

They found themselves sitting around a table as the circus began to fill with the night's crowd. 

El took the seat closest to the tent wall, and Erik settled down next to him, turning the chair around and resting his arms on the back. Serena and Veronica took the seats next to him, leaving one seat left, across from El.

They’d been able to go right through the ticket gate, not one person stopping them to check if they’d paid, so at the very least the stranger had held up his end of their deal.

It wasn’t until the ringmaster walked on stage to welcome the guests did he show again, still dressed in his cloak. This time, however, two guards accompanied him, taking up post just out of earshot on either side of the table.

The man dropped easily into his chair, and introduced himself.

“I am Prince Faris,” he said, “and I need your help. Soon I am to come of age, and as such, I will have to compete in the Sand Nationals, and before I am knighted, I will be expected to face off against a great beast. The trouble is… I am no knight. I have never fought in so much as a training bout! I do not know what manner of creature I am meant to kill, but if I was able to take down a dragon, to bring it to my father, I would surely be free from that expectation.”

“You must be crazy if you think we’d just let you  _ kill _ -“

“I do not intend to harm your dragon!” Faris clarified, “I do not intend to fight it at all! But you say it is tame, that it is trained, all I ask is that it  _ acts  _ defeated!” He hung his head in his hands, “I am a coward, I am under no delusions of grandeur, but this is for my father, for my kingdom. I do not wish to disappoint them.”

“I’ll do it.” El said, ever the pushover.

“Well I’ve seen your dragon form, you’re not exactly a  _ huge  _ threat, you know.” Erik told him, “so if you’re not actually going to be spitting fire and fury, you aren’t going to be much of a trophy.” 

El had the good grace to look somewhat embarrassed. “I can be bigger.” 

“Excuse me?” Faris piped up, confused.

“It’s not real,” El said, “I can’t hold the illusion for very long, but I can look like a much bigger dragon.”

“ _ You’re  _ the dragon?” Faris asked, and when he was given confirmation, cried out, “oh, this won’t do! All for nothing!”

“Now, don’t get so worked up.” Veronica chided, “we didn’t say no, and you don’t even know what he’s talking about, do you?”

“You’re both crazy.” Erik hissed over the gasps of awe coming from the crowd, “you really want to risk El like this?”

Veronica sighed, “you can really get us the rainbough for this?”

“I give you my word! If you help me, it is all yours.”

“Then we don’t have much choice.” She said, “El?”

“I’ve already agreed.” El said. 

~~

El was standing before a mirror in their shared room at the inn. Faris has once again taken care of the bill. El had been getting undressed when his reflection caught his eye, and he stopped to look. 

His appearance has never been something he’d been self conscious about. He’d never stopped to compare himself to the other children, and they’d never stopped to compare back. 

He’d been different, but there was never anything said about it.

But now.

_ Just look at you!  _ Veronica had said. And now, he was. 

“Erik?”

The thief turned from where he’d been sitting, sharpening his new knife. “Yeah?” 

Erik saw El, fingers just centimeters from touching one of his horns, looking at himself in the mirror. Meeting his own eyes, but only seeing what wasn’t human.

“Am I scary?”

“You? About as scary as a gecko.” Erik was smiling, but El was not. 

Erik put down his knife, and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, so that he was facing El. “Look.” Erik started, “I don’t think you’re scary. I don’t think Veronica or Serena think you’re dangerous.” He paused. “But.. but those people out there, they might be afraid at first.”

The hand came back down to rest by El’s side, and Erik looked at his claws. Truth be told, El was dangerous.

But so was he, carrying knives and poisons. So was Veronica, with her seemingly endless ability to call forth fireballs. 

And so were the people out in the city. You never know. 

“But I also think that they wouldn’t be afraid of you for long. I sure wasn’t.”

El’s face didn’t change. He didn’t move. 

“People are afraid of what’s different. Even if they shouldn’t be. If we had time, they wouldn’t be scared.”

El gave one slight nod. Just enough to show he was listening.

“You’re thinking too hard about all this.” Erik said, “get some sleep. We’ll all need to be rested for tomorrow.” Erik still didn’t like the situation. He didn’t trust Faris, and he was afraid of what would happen in the morning.

El agreed, and changed into his little dragon form. 

There was only one bed in the room, but that was hardly an issue when he could just take this form and sleep on a pillow.

As he settled down, he felt Erik begin to scratch around the base of his horns, much like he’d do to a cat's ears. 

El was under no illusions about how Erik felt towards his plan, but the rainbough was more important. They didn’t know exactly what they were up against, if anything. And if all he had to do to get it was play possum for a bit, then he’d do it. 

No questions asked.

  
  


Morning came, and El woke slowly. He was warm, which was a welcome change from the frost he’d been getting used to waking up with. He was being held down to his pillow, though, which was something he was not exactly wanting to get used to.

Erik’s hand was on his back, just above where his wings grew, and completely limp over him, a dead weight.

He’d wanted to get up and leave immediately, without waking Erik, but wiggling out from under his arm with nothing more solid that a pillow underneath him wasn’t exactly something he could stealth through. 

Erik was slapped awake by one errant wing, and the morning’s peace was broken.

A few minutes later, Erik’s cheek still red, they were just about ready to leave, when El stopped by the door.

“I made this yesterday.” He said, holding out a knife, sheathed in a hand-stitched leather cover. “With the forge. You were right,” He said as Erik carefully took the blade, looking it over, “it is pretty easy to use.”

It was a divine dagger. Nothing too fancy, and it’s quality was barely above what he would’ve gotten from a weapons shop, but it was still an upgrade. 

“Thank you.” El said, “for the forge.”

“I should be thanking you.” Erik said as he swapped his old, chipped knife out for his new gift. He offered a grin, “come on, I’m sure they’re waiting for us.”

They met with Faris not far outside the city.

He stood proud, without his cloak, with a platoon of soldiers, and a large wooden carriage.

Faris was speaking to his men, seemingly trying his best to explain the situation, only to be met with reluctant agreement to the plan.

“Last chance to jump ship.” Erik said as the prince stride towards them.

_ I keep my word _ .

El took one deep, steadying breath, and removed his cloak, taking off the mirage with it.

Faris and his men only had a moment to marvel at El before he changed, standing tall and imposing before the sands. A low, rumbling growls started in his chest, a warning to the soldiers that reached for their weapons.

“Alright!” Erik called over the noise, “here’s the deal! You can take El here to the Sultan. You tell him you defeated him, you take glory in whatever the hell you get for it. Then, you let him go. We get the rainbough, and no one needs to know about this.” Erik took a moment to pause, and look at the panicked soldiers, and went off script. “If El gets hurt, if something goes wrong and you get so much as a scratch on him,” he grins, “well, let’s just hope everything goes to plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys are ready for the slow burn to actually have an ember take fire next chapter...   
> >:)


	5. Out to Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik hesitated for only a moment. “Okay,” he said, “we’ll have each other’s backs, yeah? Partners?”  
> He laid his hand over El’s. His skin was cooler than what Erik would consider to be normal, but that was just El. 
> 
> Partners. Came the silent reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe Animal Crossing allowed me to write this.

_ If you need help, just holler. We’ll be there. _

That was the last thing Erik had to say before El climbed onto the wagon, and let the terrified soldiers tie him down.

The ropes were thick, but nothing he couldn’t break free from if he needed to.

The order was given, and the procession began.

The city gates were thrown open, fanfare trumpeting as the beloved prince stepped through, his trophy being wheeled in behind him.

Erik slips through the crowd, staying out of sight, but staying close.

He didn’t trust Faris, he didn’t trust this plan to go smoothly, and he wasn’t alone in his sentiment.

Veronica and Serena weren’t with him, but further into town, hiding amongst the crowd in the same way.

_ “Father!”  _ Faris called out to the squat man standing above the crowds. He had one hand on the hilt of a sword he’d never drawn, and the other spread out, drawing attention to the creature behind him. “I’ve brought you a gift! A creature from the Celestial Sands brought low by my own blade!”

Erik rolled his eyes at the spectacle. 

He’d bet money that Faris was never told ‘no’ to anything growing up.

“What a feat, Faris my boy!”

And, really, was the entire royal family like this?

The sultan made to speak again but stopped as one person walked forward from the crowd.

The performer from the circus, Sylvando, walked up to the prince as if they knew him personally.

Erik couldn’t make out what they said and tried to move closer, just a few more feet closer-

A soldier broke rank, running through the crowd to come to a sudden halt before the sultan.

Kneeling down, he said loud enough for the whole city to hear-

“Sire! The Slayer of the Sands has returned!”

The people didn’t move.

No one spoke.

“My comrades are holding it off, but it is forcing its way past us- it could be here any moment!”

The soldier waited- and for a moment, the Sultan did nothing- no orders, no plan, not a word was spoken.

Until he got a glint in his eye, a bad idea-

El was still there, caught in the middle. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t said a word- and Erik didn’t know what to do- what even is the Slayer of the Sands?

“Faris!” The Sultan said, raising his staff high, “you must defend your home! You are a true knight- a true hero! To bring down a dragon like this, the Slayer of the Sands will be no match for you!”

Faris stood in shock- mouth agape and knees trembling.

“Father, no! I cannot-“

Now, what happened to the prince they made this deal with? The one that couldn’t possibly be seen as a coward before his people?

“Now, now, Prince Faris,” Sylvando said, walking around the wagon, inspecting its cargo, “if you managed to take down such a beast as this, I don’t doubt your ability to fight some measly scorpion!” 

Sylvando stopped next to the dragon’s neck and laid a hand on its scales.

The smile on their face vanished the moment Sylvando’s hand came in contact with El.

Then, the Slayer arrived.

The people who’d gathered in the square screamed as they heard the horrible noises the slayer made, as it pounded against the city gates.

El lay frozen in place.

He saw the guards usher away the Sultan, but not before he could call out to his son. “You are a man, Faris! Defend your kingdom!”

Faris said nothing, frozen in place as he watched the gates shake.

The people of Gallopolis fled, pushing through into buildings, hiding in the alleyways, searching for high ground to escape the monster.

_ El, come on!  _ He heard Erik’s voice in his head,  _ we need to get you out of here _ !

El could see him from here, standing on the edge of a building, hood pulled over his face, his new knife held tight in his grip. 

A woman screamed, and the gates burst open, letting the slayer into the city.

Faris stood directly in its path.

And what else was El supposed to do? He broke cover and broke his bonds. His wings flared open and snapped the rope that tied him to the wagon.

His mirage was gone, his energy was sapped, but he turned to fight. 

He leaped from the wagon and stood in front of Faris. He flared out his wings, bared his fangs and roared.

Embers flew from his open jaw, a wordless warning to the slayer, but it hardly slowed.

It was big.

Nearly twice El’s size.

Sharp blades for arms, pinchers, and multiple legs that let it scurry faster than El could run.

It was nearly upon him when he summoned his flames.

Deep from his chest, they burst. An inferno that hit home.

Faris ran.

The slayer screeched, more from fury than from pain, but it was enough. As it stumbled, trying to free itself from the blast of fire-

“ _ Swoosh!” _

_ “Frizzle!” _

The two spells hit it from either side, and it roared. Twisting and turning, trying to pick a target.

Flames dissipating, El took off at a gallop. 

Lounging forward, talons ready to rip, El wasn’t prepared for its counter.

One of its blade-like forearms slammed down on his head, and El stumbled. There was ringing in his ears, the world spun sickeningly around him, and he fell to the ground.

He was only down a moment. Green healing magic enveloped him, and the dizziness faded.

_ Left! _

Erik. 

El didn’t take the time to right himself and instead rolled to his left, just in time to see one of its forelegs bury itself in the stone pathing.

El didn’t waste a moment. 

He leaped, finding purchase on the beast’s back, and tore at its shell with his claws. 

Repeated motion, over and over, dark green blood pouring from the wounds as the monster screeched at him, it’s stinger striking randomly, twisting this way and that as it tried to toss him off, as it tried to free its leg.

“ _ EL!”  _ He heard the scream, heard the warning both out loud, and in his mind.

The slayer had freed its arm, and its stinger struck home on El’s back.

A headache, throbbing and dizzy, came out of nowhere as he was envenomated.

He lost his grip, and the slayer flung him from its back.

He hit the side of a building hard and crumpled to the ground.

His head spun, there was a purple tint to his vision, and he ached all over.

He heard voices, screams, but they were muffled as if he was hearing them from underwater.

He heard a voice in his head. 

He wanted it to be quiet.

He couldn’t understand what it was saying, couldn’t make out the words.

He pulled himself up on his forelegs, the world tilted on its axis as he saw the slayer prepare to charge.

Between the fog in his mind, and the buzz of noise all around him, one sound managed to cut past both.

His head swung around.

Just past where his tail-tip lay, 

Two children, no older than ten, trapped between him and safety.

Two children would be caught in the crossfire.

The slayer screeched, and El moved. He stood between the monster and the children. Head raised, wings flared out.

He couldn’t scare away the slayer, but at the very least he could slow it down. 

Smoke poured from his jaws with his roar, his energy sapped, no fire left to give.

It charged.

_ El! _

El screwed his eyes shut at the last moment, and braced for the hit. This  _ couldn’t  _ be how the Luminary dies, could it?

_ El! _

But instead of pain, instead of losing his grip on the world, nothing happened.

The voice stopped calling. El opened his eyes.

The slayer stood before him, not ten feet away, but it was still.

Sylvando, El recognized from the circus, stood on its back, sword buried to the hilt in an opening between the plates of its exoskeleton.

The slayer stumbled, but before it could fall, its body began to disintegrate. 

Sylvando landed neatly on the ground, sword sheathed before they even touched down.

The threat gone, he folded his wings, lowered his head. El felt his legs wobble.

He saw the children run to Sylvando, holding tight to their legs. Peering fearfully at El.

Sylvando said something and reached a hand out to El, but he was already gone.

~~

_ “El!” _

The moment the slayer vanished, Erik moved. Across a rooftop, and down the side of a building, landing hard on one leg, but paying it no attention as he sprinted forward. 

He made it to his dragon in time to see him falter.

He caught El’s head in his arms, the weight nearly taking him down to the floor as well, but just barely, he managed to make their descent slow.

El’s head pillowed in Erik’s lap, he checked his dragon over for injuries.

There wasn’t much blood, thank the goddess, but… the  _ bruising _ . His back was dappled in blue and grey, and his left horn was chipped at the top, the curved point marred by a shallow slice.

Veronica stood at his side, saying nothing, looking over the creature she’d sworn to protect.

Serena reached them, slamming down to the ground without a thought about herself, hands glowing. 

The wounds began to vanish, but El did not wake.

Erik didn’t let go, his heart thudding to a type of fear he wasn’t familiar with.

People were talking.

The citizens were coming back out, surveying the damage to their city, and starring openly at the spectacle in the middle of town.

“He’ll be okay,” Serena said, her magic fading away. “He just needs rest.”

“It’s not safe,” Erik said, numb to his own words. “Everyone has seen him, we can’t go back to Hotto, we can’t-“

A hand on his shoulder.

“Honey, he’ll be fine, you need to calm down,” Sylvando said, just as startled as the rest of town, but still somehow perfectly calm. 

The crowd gathered close, their murmuring background noise to Erik’s panic.

Footfalls.

There was a new voice in the cacophony. 

But one Erik recognized.

“Is he dead?”

Erik saw red. 

Slowly, gently, he lowered El’s head to the ground.

He stood.

Sylvando was already scolding Faris but stopped when they caught sight of Erik. 

They stepped out of the way.

“This is your fault.”

Erik hardly recognized his own voice. Flat, cold.

“El could’ve-“ he couldn’t bring himself to say it. “All because of  _ your ego _ .”

“Erik-“ Serena grabbed his arm, but he didn’t stop.

“Because you had to be a hero- had to show off for your people, but couldn’t even best a  _ slime-“ _

“T-the deal-“ Faris tried to stutter out, “keep it down!”

“The  _ deal _ ,” Erik raised his voice, not a care for the people watching, “was simple.  _ The deal  _ ended when El got hurt.” Erik wrenched his arm from Serena’s grasp and used it to gesture to El. Lying prone and unconscious on the stone, “he just fought off a monster  _ twice his size _ , was ready to  _ die  _ for your people, and all you have to say is about the  _ deal _ ?”

Faris said nothing.

Erik stopped only to catch his breath.

The crowd was silent.

“What deal?”

The voice came from above them. Faris was looking up, mouth agape, searching for a reason, an excuse.

Erik turned.

The Sultan stood above them, hands resting on the banister, his wife beside him, and a guard on either side. How long had they been there?

He was looking at El. 

“This is the same dragon you bested, my son.” He said calmly. Noting the drastic change in size. 

_ Erik. _

The world disappeared as Erik heard his voice.

El was awake. Bright blue eyes half-lidded, head only raised slightly off the ground.

_ Erik. Erik. _

“Hey, hey,” Erik returned back to the ground, and took El’s head in his hands again, holding him by the ridges along his jaw. “It’s okay, everything’s okay.”

_ Hurts.  _ There was that sound again, something Erik couldn’t describe, that rang through the air. 

“I know,” Erik said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you do this.” 

_ Not your fault. _

“We need to move you. Can you change?” 

Awareness of his surroundings came rushing back as Serena placed her hand on his shoulder. “I can only do so much at a time,” she said, “don’t make him walk yet if it’s too much.”

“He-“ Erik stopped as El changed anyway, but instead of the human form Erik had in mind, he was small again. 

He felt fragile in Erik’s arms, and while he knew that the little dragon, his friend and partner, was anything but, he still got up as carefully as possible, afraid he’d break like porcelain if he moved too quickly.

The Sultan watched on in silence, while his wife spoke up.

“Faris, love,” she said, “I think you should go to the palace and wait.” Her sharp eyes came to rest on the dragon in Erik’s arms. “And I believe your friends should come along too, you’ve got quite a lot to explain today.”

Erik knew he’d moved, knew that  _ something  _ must’ve happened between standing up and standing in the palace- but he was numb to the time that passed.

Erik stood before the throne, El in his smaller form cradled in his arms, exhausted and limp.

Veronica and Serena stood on either side of him as they waited.

The Sultan shook his head. “So much in one day. My city is attacked, and my son a fraud.” He looked at Faris, who had his face pressed to the floor, and sighed. “No, no. That is too harsh. I shoulder the blame for this as well.” 

“It seems we owe you a debt of gratitude.” His wife spoke up, looking directly at Erik, “you’ve rid our land of that horrid beast. It has been since the Age of Heroes that a true monster master has passed through Gallopolis. Even longer since one boasted such a fine creature as an ally.”

“El isn’t-“ Erik started, and trailed off on his own. He could hardly think like this. Maybe it wasn’t a bad misunderstanding. 

“Actually-“ Veronica spoke up, stepping closer to the throne, “we were promised the Rainbough.”

“That was your reward for assisting my son?” 

“Yes,” Serena nodded, and really, thank the goddess that she was taking over here. “We need the treasure for our journey- and Prince Faris was ever so kind to offer it to us.”

The Sultan held his first up over his mouth. “I would like to offer it to you, as compensation for today’s disaster, but I’m afraid I cannot.”

Erik looked up, and Faris stood.

“But father-“ Faris began, but before he could protest, the sultan was speaking again.

“We no longer have it in our possession,” he said, “it was sold to a traveling merchant. We were going to use the money to pay for this year’s Sand National- the one you were meant to compete in, Faris.”

“Meant to?”

“You expect me to believe that even as you neglected your combat training that you learned to race? No, and even so- winning the race and earning that glory is just not for everyone.” The sultan huffed a sigh, “other kingdoms send their princes and princesses to learn from each other. I allowed you to become lazy by forgoing that tradition, but perhaps it isn’t too late.” His attention returned to Serena and her companions. “I cannot offer you the Rainbough, but I can tell you that the merchant was headed for Gondolia. Perhaps you can track it down from there. It isn’t much- but I can offer you a letter to grant you access through the checkpoint.”

It isn’t what they came for. 

“Thank you, your majesty,” Serena said, accepting the letter with a bow.

It wasn’t worth El’s injuries.

“Stay the night in our inn,” the Sultan offered, “the beast is dead, and we have much to celebrate.”

~~

They left in the night, but not under the cover of darkness. Lanterns were strung up between buildings, fires lit on torches.

The circus performers out in the streets, showing off their skills, balancing acts, juggling, fire breathing. 

The citizens of Gallopolis too eager to celebrate, too caught up in the act, hardly noticed them pass.

El was wrapped around Erik’s neck, hidden in his hood.

It wouldn’t be the best place for El to rest, out in the sands, but it would be safer.

The desert truly came alive at night.

Creatures Erik didn’t know scurried over the sand, emerging from their burrows to hunt and scavenge.

Erik didn’t take the time to really look at his surroundings.

He kept his head down. Kept his eyes on the path, and let Veronica lead the way, keeping carefully clear of the many monsters roaming the night.

Even with El down, the three of them could probably take on whatever decided they looked like easy prey, but Erik wasn’t the only one who felt as if he’d been put through a meat grinder.

Veronica spoke softly to her sister, but Erik didn’t care enough to listen in.

He didn’t speak at all until they reached a campsite.

It will get cold tonight.

But this felt better than the inn in Gallopolis.

He’d forever prefer the open air to the small rooms or public dorms of town inns.

“You should take your human form tonight, El.” Serena advised as Veronica got to making their campfire, “you might have an easier time dealing with the cold if you’re more human.”

El unwound himself from Erik’s shoulders, but before he could get down on his own, Erik lifted him up like a cat, setting him down gently on the ground, right by his side.

The little dragon gave a small frustrated huff, but in the blink of an eye, El was human again, partially leaning against a crate, and partially against Erik, one wing placed awkwardly behind him.

“We’ll get you another healing session before we set off tomorrow.” Serena said, “just rest tonight, and you should be fine by morning.”

El nodded, and froze for just a millisecond, before he shot upright, and stared out past the fire.

“What-“ Veronica started to ask, but a quick  _ shhh!  _ from El cut her off.

Erik strained to hear, but moments passed with the only sounds he could pick up over the blood rushing in his ears being the wind and the animals- he heard it, but no sooner than when they came into view.

“You weren’t planning on leaving without saying goodbye, were you?” Sylvando asked, stepping into the ring of firelight.

“That was  _ exactly  _ what we were going for,” Veronica muttered at them, reaching for her staff.

Sylvando paid her no mind, settling down with the group without waiting for an invitation. 

They looked straight on at El, staring openly, but somehow, in a way that wasn’t quite as rude as it should’ve been.

“I do hope you don’t mind,” Sylvando said, “but I’ve got a few questions for you all.”

“Of course we mind,” Veronica said at the same time Erik responded with, “Not happening.”

But Serena was quiet, looking over their guest, noticing the same things that El did.

They were armed but much too relaxed to be able to attack suddenly. 

“I never thanked you for saving me.” El said carefully, returning to where he’d been resting, “so, thank you, truly.” His head tilted as he thought, and the firelight caught on the chip on the tip of his left horn. “I don’t know what would’ve happened to me if you didn’t step in.”

“Oh, honey, there’s no need to thank me!” Sylvando waved a dismissing hand at him, “I just jumped in when there was an opening, you're the one who did all the heavy lifting!” Sylvando was smiling, but their eyes were serious. “What I want to know is what you needed so badly that you’d put your friend here in so much danger. And- what exactly you are.” Sylvando explained, “I’ve seen you three different ways now. When Prince Faris brought you to his father, when you fought the slayer, and now. You’re no monster, I can tell, far too sweet of a boy to even consider, and yet…”

They paused, and El spoke.

“We needed the Rainbough.” El said, “supposedly the Sultan had it, but it’s long gone now.”

“You see,” Serena picked up, “El here is the Luminary, and we’re trying to get to Yggdrasil, you see. We need to understand more about what he’s meant to do to stop someone called the Lord of Shadows. A terrible being that wants to bring death and destruction to our world, and we want to stop him-“

“Now hold on a moment,” Veronica interrupted, a small hand on her sister’s knee, “you don’t need to go blabbing our whole lives' story to the jolly jester!”

“Well, well,” Sylvando said, not taking any note of Veronica’s sour look. “So there’s some big bad guy out there looking to take all the smiles and sunshine from the world? That’s no good.” Their smile came rushing back, “well, I make my living off of all that, so you wouldn’t mind an extra set of hands to help out, now would you?”

El blinked. “You want to join us? Even after hearing all that?”

“But of course!” They said, “where would a  _ jolly jester  _ like me end up in a world ruled by your Lord of Shadows? Darlings, we want the same thing, no?”

“Of course you can come.” El said, “we can use any help we can get.”

“Now wait a moment-“ Both Erik and Veronica piped up at the same time.

“You’re too quick to trust,” Erik complained, right as Veronica voiced her own complaints.

“We hardly know them!” She said, “we had a plan, too! Gondolia, ferry, and rainbough! Can we afford to make ourselves more noticeable, or another ticket for that matter?”

“I’ll have you know that I can pay my own way, sweetie,” Sylvando said before El could begin to defend his choice. “And there’s no need for the ferry anyhow, you all can hitch a ride with me. I picked up the nicest little number last season. I’ve got my own ship.”

Veronica’s tone changed immediately. “You have your own boat?” At Sylvando’s smile, she said, “Well then I suppose you would be able to pull your own weight…”

But Erik wasn’t so easily sold.

_ Do you plan on just letting anyone come aboard? _ Erik asked, glaring in El’s direction.  _ We don’t know them! We don’t know why they’d just want to up and join us!  _

El met his glare unflinchingly.  _ We need all the help we can get.  _ He didn’t sound angry, keeping his tone steady, but his words were firm.  _ I didn’t know you when I let you come with me. You didn’t know Serena when you had her heal me.  _

Erik wanted to argue further, wanted to say that those times were different. But had trouble with coming up with reasons why. 

_ They saved my life, too. Do you really think they would’ve saved me then if they wanted to kill me now?  _ The voice in his head took on a lighter tone.  _ That’s something all of you have in common. _

Flashes of their escape from Heliodor appeared in Erik’s mind.

“Fine!” Erik conceded, throwing up his arms in defeat. “Whatever you say.”

_ Thank you, Erik. _ He sounded smug. 

“I’m sorry,” Sylvando’s voice cut through, “but I feel just a  _ teeny little bit _ lost right now. What just happened?”

It hadn’t yet occurred to Erik how their silent conversations must’ve looked from outside. 

Veronica saved him from fumbling over any explanations.

“You were talking to each other,” she guessed, “in your heads?”

El nodded. “I know that’s not something most people have, I could talk to my mum, and a handful of people in my village this way, but they couldn’t do it with anyone else but me.”

“Some keepers develop that ability.” Serena explained, “but it takes a very, very, long time. You typically only see it in someone who’s been caring for a dragon for decades.”

“And Keepers are what, again?” Erik asked, but was ignored in favor of-

“And you’ve been traveling together for what, a few weeks?” Veronica asked, skeptical.

“More like a few days,” Erik said. “We broke out of Heliodor, what, six days ago?”

El thought for a moment and shrugged. “About that.”

“ _ Six days _ ?” Veronica yelled, “sixty  _ years _ would be more believable!”

“Keepers?” Erik asked again, thinking of how he’d been assumed to be a monster master, or how Serena had called El  _ his dragon  _ before she’d known he was the Luminary.

“I’ve mentioned that people in Arboria care for dragons when they need it.” Serena began, “but some used to care for them for the human’s entire life, and the care of the dragon would be passed down from parent to child. These people were called Dragon Keepers. They have special connections with their dragons. They can hear each other’s thoughts, sense their presence, feel their emotions. They aren’t as common as they used to be, unfortunately. The dragons are more feral, more beast now than they have ever been before.”

_ Parent to child. _ How long did dragons live?

“Oh, how romantic!” Sylvando grinned for just a moment, and Erik cringed, “but I still don’t quite understand,” Sylvando said, looking El up and down. “I’ve seen you human and I’ve seen you dragon, but, which are you?”

“I’d like to know that myself,” El said, his tone somber. He missed his simple old life of farming, of hunting. 

The atmosphere of the campsite changed in an instant, everyone suddenly much more interested in the ground than El and Erik’s new ability.

“Well,” Sylvando said, stretching their arms above their head, “if we’re heading for Gondolia, we ought to get a good night's sleep before we hit the road.” With that, they fell back on the sand, head pillowed on their arms.

The twins shared a look but followed suit.

~~

Erik dreamed of the sky.

Clouds surrounded him on all sides.

It was perfectly silent up here, no distractions, no disturbances.

No stress, no sadness.

Two wings, golden-scaled with a single long scar through the membrane, cut through the clouds.

He moved a hand, letting it drag through the cloud, and felt it turn to water around his fingers.

Then, the clouds parted.

The sky was clear ahead. Erik looked down and saw the sea.

And he’d thought he got a good view from a crow’s nest.

The morning sun shimmered over the waves and lit up the land.

Erik took hold of El’s horns again and dared to break the silence.

“Can we really do this?” He’d thought he’d be afraid of flying.

Maybe he still would be. But right now, everything just felt right.

The sound of bells chiming. 

It was soft, it was friendly.

It was an answer, but in a language, Erik didn’t yet understand.

But then-

The sound was gone, and the sunrise was hidden by darkening storm clouds.

“El!” 

A strike of bright white light-

A crash of thunder-

The remains of the campfire popped.

It was still dark out. 

Erik woke shoulder-to-shoulder with El.

The spines of the wing beneath him were unyielding, but not uncomfortable.

~~

Stepping through the checkpoint was almost like going through the door of departure. The arid desert was gone - replaced instantly by sandy shores and lush greenery that grew upwards across a stretching cliff face.

The path was clear. 

No one just came and went between the two regions, and they were unlikely to meet anyone on the road.

El walked next to Erik, his exhaustion seemingly faded, and his wounds healed.

Erik felt like he should be feeling awkward after the previous night's revelations. 

A dragon keeper’s connection, forged over what could only have been a few days and nights?

But instead, it just felt right. Like this is how it should be, as if he’d known El his whole life.

El caught him looking.

Erik should look away, he’d only been spacing out, sorry-

El only smiled at him. Just for a moment before his eyes were back on the road.

“ _ Oof!”  _

Erik’s attention was drawn away. He turned back to see where Veronica had fallen in the sand.

She wasn’t hurt. She was already getting back to her feet when El went to give her a hand up.

“I’m fine!” She snapped, mortified. 

“The road will only get rockier from here,” Serena warned as her help was refused as well. “Perhaps one of us should carry-“

“ _ Absolutely not! _ ” Veronica nearly screeched at her sister. “I’ve got two legs, I’ll use them!”

Serena backed off with a sigh. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.” 

“I’ll carry you.” El said, and before Veronica could get mad, “I’ll change, you can ride on my neck. I’m more used to hiking like that anyway, you won’t be any burden.”

Veronica almost said something, then stopped.

El looked to the rest of the party, “I can’t carry everyone. Though I could fly a little ahead, Veronica and I could keep an eye out for anything dangerous.”

Oh, he knew what he was doing.

Maybe Erik had been wrong about Veronica. She knew full well what it must be like for El, to be different for a reason completely out of her control.

Accepting now, it would keep her from tripping over her own little legs, but it would also sound more like she was doing a favor for El.

“You used to carrying people around?” Veronica asked, sounding much less put-off than she had been only moments before.

El smiled. “More or less,” he said, “I’d been carrying Erik around before we ran into you two.”

Oh, that little-

Sylvando was laughing.

Both Serena and Veronica were smiling wide.

But El-

He was a dragon again. Not blocking Veronica’s path forward, but standing beside her.

His head was down, so if she decided to accept she could climb on, but if not, she could keep moving without him.

She hesitated, hands holding tight to her staff. “If you drop me I’ll kill you.” With that, she strapped her weapon to her back and clambered on.

_ I won’t drop you. _ Erik heard El say even though the words weren’t meant for him. 

He waited for her to get settled. Her small hands held tight around the thinner part of his horns, and he raised his head back up. 

“You ever done this before?” Erik asked Veronica, grinning.

Her face was a mix of fear and pure child-like excitement. Though, that could just be her appearance.

“No.” She said, and then El was off.

Not too fast, down the slope.

About halfway down, he spread his wings, and his feet left the sandy ground.

Veronica let out a short half-scream, that quickly changed to a delighted laugh.

He was gliding low, but he still cleared the sandbar without flapping his wings.

_ Don’t get too far ahead!  _ Erik said, and he knew El heard him.

He’d stopped on the incline and turned to look at Erik, just long enough to show he’d heard.

And then they were both headed up the side of the mountain and heading out of sight.

Erik’s dream came back to him in a flash, and a bad feeling settled into his gut.

He picked up his pace.

Suddenly he didn’t want El out of his sight.

_ El?  _ He asked he couldn’t be too far to hear, could he?

_ El! _

“Slow down, Erik!” Sylvando called as Erik began to climb the slope, “they’ll be fine, dearie!”

Erik didn’t want to stop, he didn’t know if they were safe- he didn’t-

_ Is something wrong?  _

El. A wave of relief like Erik hadn’t known before swept through him as he heard his voice. 

_ No,  _ suddenly, Erik didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know how to explain himself.  _ I don’t know how far our range is.  _ He settled on,  _ I don’t want to lose contact. _

He heard wind chimes somewhere in the distance.  _ I won’t go too far.  _ El promised, and Erik almost felt better.

But his feeling of uneasiness only intensified as they grew closer and closer to Gondolia.

Even when he managed to catch a glimpse of gold through the tree line, even when he heard a voice, just checking in, just making sure everyone was okay, it didn’t lessen.

But at last, they met again, El landing next to them not too far from the gate to Gondolia. By the time his feet met with the ground, he was human, Veronica sitting on his shoulders, and looking far too giddy as he set her back on her feet.

Erik wanted to joke, wanted to ask if she’d enjoyed herself, but was just too relieved that they were safe to ruin the moment.

“Okay,” he said instead, “I don’t think we should risk you running around like that this time around. Think you could deal with sticking with me? We shouldn’t be here  _ too  _ long, right Sylvando?”

Erik didn’t like the smug look he was getting from them as they replied, “no, no, we won’t be a minute, just to the docks, and we’ll be on our way!”

“Of course I don’t mind,” El said, though Erik could tell he wasn’t entirely happy with the situation. 

But still, when Erik offered his hand, El took it and in a heartbeat, he was around Erik’s shoulders again.

Now, that felt better. 

Gondolia was unlike the cities Erik’s visited so far- but then, he’s been thinking that a lot lately, hasn’t he?

~~

Erik should’ve known something would’ve gone wrong.

“Are you insane?” Erik tried not to raise his voice too high, “we need to get going, it’s too dangerous to stay in one place for too long!”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic!” Sylvando said, “it won’t be too long, just try to relax a bit!”

_ Relax?  _ “Are you serious?” 

But they rest of his group was already moving away, heading off to watch the show, to find something to eat that was  _ probably  _ way too expensive, and they  _ have  _ food! They could just make something on the ship-

“I’m sorry,” the man blocking the docks said, “you could try talking to Doge Rotondo if it’s an emergency, but I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

It was tempting, but, “no.” Erik sighed, “we’ll just wait.”

  
  


The sun was high in the sky by now.

Erik managed to find a shady spot near the docks to wait.

It was emptier down here, with the docks closed no one had any real reason to come.

El was still in his smaller form, but he’s left Erik’s hood to sit out in the sun.

When was this contest meant to start, again?

“Oh, there you are! Thank goodness.” Serena’s voice carried down as she hurried towards them.

“I need your help, Veronica’s managed to get herself into a bit of a scrape.”

“What’s she managed to do?” Erik asked, plucking El from the ground and letting him return to his hiding place in his hood.

They found her right as Serena left her, arguing with two other children over her staff.

“What do you even want with it? It’s not like you could use it!”

_ Of course _ . Erik stepped between the bickering children and plucked the weapon from the thief, dropping it back into Veronica’s hands. “Don’t let it get swiped so easy next time.”

“Wait, please!” The child begged, “I only wanted to borrow it, promise!”

“Whatever for?” Veronica asked, holding tightly to her staff, but looking more concerned than angry.

The second child squeezed past his friend, and tried to speak.

When it was clear he wasn’t going to, Erik pressed the heel of his palm to his head. This town was turning into a real headache.

“Come on, kid. Just spit it out.”

The child only hung his head, and his friend stepped forward again. “It’s okay, Placido. I’ll explain.

“My name is Benigno, Placido is my friend. We play together every day, and we were fine- but today, he lost his voice. I don’t know how, and he cannot tell me! I thought that if I had magic, I could fix him…”

Veronica set her staff to the ground and leaned on it. “Fine, you’re forgiven. But don’t go around trying magic on people- if you don’t know what you’re doing you could really hurt them.”

“I understand.” Benigno said, “do you think you could help?”

Serena kneeled down before Placido and held her fingers just over the muted child’s throat. “Oh, how horrible. The poor thing has been cursed.” She looked up to Erik, “I could help him, I think, but I’ll need a few things. Would you mind coming with me to help, Erik? Veronica, stay with these boys in case something changes.”

~~

They didn’t speak until they were well out of the town.

Standing around, hearing only the frogs singing, Serena hesitated, taking a moment to gather the right words to get what she needed across - but to keep El safe as well.

“Dragon’s blood has many healing or generally beneficial properties. It can cure illness, and lift some curses.” She had her hands held tightly together and didn’t quite meet El’s eyes. “I’m fairly certain that it would be able to cure this child- if you would allow us to try?”

El nodded, giving permission without a second thought, but Erik felt a drop of apprehension.

There was something Serena wasn’t saying.

And he had a good idea of what it was.

But it wasn’t his choice to make, even as El cut his own hand open with a talon, even as Serena held an empty vial to the fresh cut, even as Erik’s own instincts were screaming at him to stop this.

Serena closed the small glass bottle, and then the wound.

She held it close for a moment, an odd look passing over her face before she looked back up, all smiles.

“I should be able to cure him with just this,” she said, “why don’t you both go and wait for Sylvando? I’ll meet back up with you when I’m done.”

They left her to find the two children, and Erik made his way to the center of town.

It shouldn’t be too hard to find Sylvando-

There was a hand on his wrist, a bruising grip that Erik couldn’t immediately shake off.

“I know you,” the guard said, his other hand coming to rest on his sword. “You’re the one that broke outta Heliodor with the dragon!”

_ Shit! _ Erik wrenched his hand away and backed off a step, but it was too late.

The guards knew him, and they’d managed to grab Jasper’s attention.

“So, you’re our little thief?” Jasper asked as the guards surrounded them. 

Iron swords point at him, and Erik can  _ feel _ the discomfort their proximity is giving El. 

“What have you done with it?” Jasper asks, “it was the King’s property, you know. You were already jailed for thieving from the royal family, so I’m sure you understand the consequences of stealing from him yet again.”

Erik could lie. He could tell him that El left him. But what would the point of that be? He couldn’t fight all these people on his own, and surely they’d be able to take El away from him-

“Where’s the dragon?” One of the guards thrust his sword forward, the sharpened tip mere inches from Erik’s throat, from El.

He felt El’s talons dig into his skin- 

And then he was gone, the small dragon was bridging the gap between Erik and the arm of the soldier.

Shocked, the man stumbled back, and fell as the five or so pound dragon became a full-grown man pinning the man down as his sword skidded out of view.

Now this was a better shot at winning, even if they hadn’t wanted to make themselves known.

Erik drew his own blade as El managed to block the attack of the second guard.

And really- who was in charge of training these men?

Dragon or no they shouldn’t be falling in two hits.

Jasper was still left when his men had fallen, not moving a hand to their aid, but standing still above the fighting, watching half-interested as he waited.

“So you’ve found yourself an ally, Luminary.” Jasper said as he drew his own sword, “I’d be shocked if it was anyone besides a common criminal.”

Erik didn’t have the mind to be offended, but El snarled, lunging forward with his blade.

Jasper blocked him, but he couldn’t attack and protect himself at the same time.

Erik cast boulderbringer, and when the spell activated, it gave El the room he needed to swing again.

His attack hit Jasper's shoulder, and the knight stumbled back.

He wasn’t prepared for them to be this capable, and underestimating was about to be a deadly mistake.

Back and forth, attack and defend, and Jasper fell to his knees.

But more guards appeared from the town- coming to aid their commander.

“ _ Dammit _ !” Erik cursed, stepping back to meet El as they were surrounded yet again, “where are they all coming from?”

Jasper forced himself back up.

His face was bloodied, but the grimace on his face was not from pain, but rather anger from having to suffer through the humiliation of defeat.

“Stand down,” he said, “it’ll be easier for the both of us, rather than having to whittle you down.”

“Stand down?” Sylvando’s voice carried over, and Erik nearly sagged in relief, finally! Some help.

“You leave those boys alone, or so help me I’ll have to teach you all a lesson!”

Jasper took a moment to stare at the odd sight of the two people threatening him, but shook it off, “Who are these imbeciles? How did they get past the guards?”

A fireball grew between Veronica’s hands, bigger than Erik had seen her conjure before.

“‘Imbeciles,’ you say? We’ll see about that!” She threw the attack and began to throw them over and over, crashing them into the stage without a pattern, preventing the guards from being able to make a safe move.

In the confusion, Erik caught sight of a green dress, and Serena waved them over, “this way!” She whispered, “Quickly, now!”

_ Come on!  _ Erik got El’s attention, and slowly, they tried to make their escape.

They nearly had it- they were nearly to the docks when Erik felt something dark. He’d only turned to look for a moment when he saw the spell burst forth.

“Look out!”

He shoved El, and even as he stumbled, even as the spell hit him square in the chest, and pain grew like roots through his skin, he was just relieved that El was unharmed.

_ Erik! _ El made to help him up, but Erik slapped his hand away, “I’ve bought you some time!” He hissed, “use it, get out of here!”

“No, I-“ El started to protest, but Serena took his hand- “please, El, we need to go!”

Erik didn’t feel any happiness as he watched them escape, and fought off the urge to call after them as he was plucked from the ground.

El was safe.

That’s what mattered.

~~

El stood with Sylvando and the twins behind a pile of crates. 

Even if he couldn’t call forth his fire in this form, he could still feel it burning in his chest.

“We were lucky to get out of there, you know,” Sylvando told him, a comforting hand on his arm.

“Not all of us,” El said, hardly recognizing his own voice.

“Oh, poor Erik.” Serena fretted, “I can hardly imagine what they’ll do to him.”

“Oh, sweetie, don’t worry! Erik’s tougher than he looks!” Sylvando turned their attention to El, “But that Jasper was talking such nonsense, the  _ King’s  _ dragon? I would think not!”

“I went to the castle to speak to the king,” El began, “I explained that I was the Luminary, that I came from Cobblestone to find out what I was meant to do, and-” The memory of the King, the knights, and soldiers, calling him darkspawn, a monster… He knew to expect confusion, fear, mistrust, but… “The King called me a monster, he said the Luminary couldn’t be something like me. He had me thrown in the dungeons… I only escaped because Erik showed up. I’m sorry, I should’ve explained this all earlier.”

“Oh, darling, there’s no need to apologize! It’s hardly your fault that happened! Darkspawn indeed. Now!” Sylvando stood tall, “are we going to stick around here all night or are we going to go and get our Erik back?”

El looked away and took note of the guards patrolling around the town, searching for him.

“Could you three take care of them,” El asked, “I’ll take care of Jasper.”

He didn’t wait for an answer, and instead took on his dragon form and climbed up the crates.

“El, wait just a moment!” Veronica said, but El wasn’t about to stop. From the top of their hiding space, he spread his wings and took off. 

This town knew he was here. There was no reason to keep himself hidden now.

“Show yourself, Darkspawn!” El heard jasper yell, “I know you’re there, hiding in the darkness like the monster you are! Or,” he added on, and El saw Erik, tied to a pole, ropes wrapping around his chest and arms, his head hung low. “You can stay hidden and watch what happens to your friend.”

El made no effort to hide, he let the light of his embers reveal his position and landed hard on the platform across from Jasper. He growled low in his throat, and let the flames lick through the air on either side of his snout.

He knew that Jasper’s weapon was iron. 

He knew now that it would be dangerous to attack directly, and even at this distance, he could feel it’s presence.

But that wasn’t what was important now.

Jasper smirked at the dragon, “So you finally scurry into the light. You think becoming a beast like this will grant you an advantage?” His sword glinted in the moonlight. 

_ No _ . El said, even though he knew Jasper couldn’t hear him. 

He took a moment to check on Erik, whose face was caught between frustration and elation. 

_ I’ll get you out of here. _ El promised, before turning his attention back to Jasper.

Iron or not, he was well now. His wounds were healed, his sickness gone.

The flames in his chest were plenty, and his fury only fueled them more.

This wouldn’t take long.

Jasper moves carefully, beginning to circle, looking for an opening.

El flared out his wings and copied him. 

_Come on, come on!_ _Make your move._

Jasper began to cast a spell, the same he’d hit Erik with earlier in the day- but this time, El saw it happen, he knew what to expect.

Before the spell was finished, El blew his flames in close, singing the knight and setting a rafter on fire.

Somewhere, some part of him felt bad.

He’d feel guilty later, without a doubt, but  _ right now _ , he couldn’t care if he tried.

He let his flames grow and grow, and he didn’t let up until Jasper had run out of places to retreat to.

El charged and reared back.

His talons sliced through the air, and above the acrid smell of smoke, he could now smell blood.

Jasper coughed, unable to get a clean breath if air, unable to see through the blood that now dripped into his eyes.

“Brought… to my knees by  _ you _ … again...” his voice rasped, “how could this happen?”

_ El, stop! _

Erik’s voice cut through the red haze of anger in El’s mind.

Jasper was defeated.

He was by Erik’s side, slicing through the ropes that kept his human immobile.

~~

Erik fell forward, leaning heavily on El as the ropes no longer supported him.

More guards joined Jasper, and El snarled.  _ Get on! _

Erik couldn’t fight- and surely El couldn’t continue to fight with Erik as a passenger-

“ _ Yoo-hoo! Over here _ !” 

Sylvando’s voice carried, and Erik saw a ship sail past the fog. A  _ real _ ,  _ honest-to-goodness  _ ship. Not one part of Erik had even begun to think that the boat the jester had promised would be anything quite like this.

“Hurry up!” Sylvando called, and El was no longer waiting for Erik. 

He barely had the time to grab tight to El’s horns before they were airborne, and was this flying?

They were only in the air for a few moments, perhaps it wasn’t enough to judge. The weightlessness carried none of the peacefulness from his dream, he was hurting and dizzy, and it only fueled the nausea in his gut.

El hit the wood deck of the ship, and carefully set Erik down.

“We owe you one, Sylv.” Erik managed, “Made it by the skin of our teeth.”

“Oh, don’t thank me!” Sylvando said, gesturing to the pink-clad man at the helm, “Dave is the one to thank for getting us out of there!”

Dave laughed, and held one hand to the back of his neck. “Oh, it was nothin’, don’t you worry about-”

He cut off as the boat began to shake. 

A monster rose from the waters, and reached out to their ship.

But before it could land a hit on the boat- a shot echoed through the air around them, followed by another, and another.

_ Cannonfire _ ?

A fleet of smaller ships closed in around them and the creature- firing gunpowder but no cannonballs, aiming not to kill it, but to frighten it away.

The creature shrieked and sunk back down into the depths, and one of the smaller ships sailed up close to theirs.

ERik recognized Placido, but not the man with him.

“You are safe now, yes?” He asked, “That monster always attacks the ships in this area, so very irritating.”

Placido was waving happily at them, “Thank you, miss! Your cure worked!”

The man placed a hand on the child’s shoulders. “I am Doge Rotondo, Placido’s father. He told me everything. That it was Jasper who cursed him, that it was you who saved him.” Rotondo bowed to them as his ship began to sail away again, “Thank you, thank you so very much. I know you are no Darkspawn, but rather the man who told us to fear you!”

“Things won’t be easy for you now.” Erik said as he stood, leaning heavy on El. “You’ve defied Jasper and Heliodor, don’t let them grind you down.”

~~

It was quiet, on the ship. 

The smell of salt, the sound of the ocean, it was familiar, in a way that wasn’t exactly comforting. 

The rock of the ship had sent most of their party into the cabins for the night.

But Erik stayed out, to rest, to breathe.

The air always felt too thin in Heliodor. Too far from the coast. 

El was with him. 

They both sat on the deck of the ship, backs pressed against the outer wall of the cabin.

Erik didn’t mind the company, really, but the Luminary hadn’t left his side since they got on the ship. They’d been sailing for just over a full day, and he hadn’t had but a scrap of a moment to himself.

“Are you not seasick?” He asked, not turning his eyes from the stars. “Everybody else seems to be.”

“No.” El answered simply, “it’s kind of like being in the air. It’s fine.”

He said nothing else. 

Erik saw storm clouds behind his eyes.

It was silent again.

Erik just wanted to enjoy being outside. He just wanted to be able to enjoy a moment where he knew he wasn’t being chased, where he knew that he was safe, that El was safe. He just-

_ Please don’t do anything like that again.  _

“What?” Erik asked aloud, what did-

_ In Gondolia. You were hurt- you made us leave you behind. _

So that’s it. “Like you didn’t pull that stunt in Gallopolis,” Erik tried to counter, “when you were going to let the slayer kill you. I’d say we’re pretty even.” 

“That’s- that’s not the same,” El said. “I…” he struggled to find the right words. “You can’t... you aren’t disposable. When I got hurt- you helped me. You came right away, and when you got hurt you made me leave you behind.”

“It’s not like I had a choice,” Erik said defensively. “There were too many of them, and their swords were  _ iron _ . It’s not like you could’ve just brute-forced your way through them all.”

“I’ve done it before,” El said, petulantly. 

He had. Through the dungeon, through the Door of Departure. 

But he didn’t go through either unscathed.

“Yeah, and your luck is gonna run out eventually. What if next time there isn’t a Serena to pull an arrow out of your ass, or a nobleman that owes you a favor?” He looked at El now.

He was still in the same spot, but he’d pulled his knees close to his chest, hiding his face. 

Erik sighed. He wasn’t any good at this. Never has been, never will.

“Look,” he said, “I’ll make you a deal. No more heroic sacrifices if  _ you _ stop trying to be some big invincible dragon, okay?”

El peeked out from behind his stupid perfect hair. 

_ Okay. _ Erik heard. Then, “I can do that. But- but you have to let me help you. I can’t do this without you.”

A clawed hand moved from El’s knee to the wooden floor between them.

Erik hesitated for only a moment. “Okay,” he said, “we’ll have each other’s backs, yeah? Partners?”

He laid his hand over El’s. His skin was cooler than what Erik would consider normal, but that was just El. 

_ Partners _ . Came the silent reply.

~~

The dungeons were dark, and they were anything but comfortable, but, Amber supposed, there were worse places to be.

Most of the guards were kind.

Most of them treated the people of Cobblestone kindly.

Even if she missed the sunlight something awful, she found a way to survive.

Distant echos of steel on stone reached her ears, and she looked away from her embroidery to wait for the guard.

He was a kind man, this one.

She stood, and walked to the bars as he approached. 

“Any news?” She asked him hopefully, “Any news about my boy?”

The man’s face was as gruff and pinched as it always was.

“He was found in Gondolia.” His voice echoed through the halls. “He briefly did battle with my comrades, but escaped by boat. Unharmed, as far as I can tell. He has been joined by more than a few companions. All but one escaped unharmed with him.”

_ Oh, he’s alive, he’s well.  _ “Is there anything else?”

The man shook his head. “That is all. I’ve been assigned to a team to apprehend him. We’ll be searching the land around the Dundrasil ruins. I leave soon.”

Amber took a steadying breath. Good. She trusted this man. She trusted him to do the right thing. “Promise me,” she said, “Promise me that you won’t kill him. Please.”

The man hesitated. 

Amber kept her eyes locked on his, daring him to deny her.

“I cannot make that promise.” He said, turning away. “I have no intention of killing him without trial. But I cannot foresee what will happen.”

He was gone.

And Amber was alone again.

Fear for her dear son once again at the forefront of her mind.


	6. Ancient History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He didn’t know why he’d begun to feel these things. Or, well, he knew why, El… His El, his amazing, bright, wonderful El… He loved him for so many things - love.  
> Erik paused, his hand stilling in El’s hair even as his tears still fell.  
> He loved him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello yes it is once again time for El to be a dragon in distress.
> 
> In which Erik falls in love and tries to kill a man all in the space of an hour.

Even with their newfound freedom thanks to Sylvando, Dave, and the Salty Stallion, the party kept sailing nearly without a destination for four days, and for four nights.

For safety, Sylvando had said.

They couldn’t wait indefinitely, but the time they spent in the middle of the sea was time Heliodor could not find them.

It was time to rest, time to train and better themselves against the monsters that attacked from the waves, time to heal, and time to know each other.

Their journey was one that started abruptly for each one of them.

And each one of them were people that Erik couldn’t see coming together in any other circumstance.

Their personalities didn’t clash, save for Erik and Veronica, but even they didn’t fight or bicker in any serious kind of way.

Which was a blessing, Erik knew. Sharing such tight quarters was nerve wracking enough without hating the people he was sharing with.

Instead, they all came to know each other, just a little better.

Erik could appreciate all that Sylv had left behind to come with them, and even if he thought he may be projecting a little… Sylv never spoke of their home. Not of family nor friends, aside from small anecdotes from his troupe. 

He thought that he could understand them, just a little.

And… Erik didn’t know why, but he loved all the names Sylvando called him. Called  _ all  _ of them. Darling, honey, sweetie… It made him feel warm. Feel welcome.

And the twins were much easier to get along with now, as well.

Turns out that Veronica has a natural aptitude for astronomy. Once Erik began to attach legends and stories to the stars and constellations he pointed out, she latched onto the concept, memorizing the tales and locations faster than even Erik remembered doing himself.

It brought back fond memories, teaching her about the stars. Erik found himself smiling more, these days.

Serena had only a passing interest in what her sister was learning. She listened to the tales he spun, but only for the entertainment. And, somehow, that was fine too.

Instead, she taught him about dragons.

Serena taught Erik and El both all she knew about the bond Dragon and Keeper shared, and what they were experiencing.

It felt larger than life, sharing his mind with El.

He almost felt odd, about how quickly the two of them came to share these traits that took so long for others, but at the same time, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

Their silent conversations aside, they’d begun to develop more.

It started small, but Erik began to feel what he could only describe as echoes to his emotions.

He felt them, so much less intense than his own, in the background of his mind, but he sensed what El felt.

He felt the exhilaration when El took to the skies to stretch his wings.

He felt the grief El felt last night, after he’d woken from a dream in which he was home with his family.

He felt the disgust the first time he’d tried the strange fish dish that Serena prepared for them, that turned out to be something that wasn’t meant to be made with fish at all. But to be fair, he didn’t need a special dragon keeper bond to know that was what  _ everyone  _ had felt right then,

He knew that El was experiencing the same, and if Serena was to be believed, there was only more to come the longer they stayed together.

They’d come to be joined at the hip, and Erik had no trouble with it.

The small, casual touches, a brush of a wing, or a hand on his shoulder.

All things that Erik had come to accept, to expect, to take solace in.

They were spending their last day on board when El decided to go for a swim.

He’d claimed he’d been swimming in the deepest parts of the river back in Cobblestone before.

He said the current wasn’t anything he needed to worry about, and since they were in an area without any terribly strong monsters… 

“You know the currents in the ocean are stronger than a river flow, right?” Erik had asked, but the dragon didn’t listen.

“If I can fly against storm fronts then I can handle a few waves.”

He  _ was  _ going to argue further, but Erik knew it wasn’t a fight he was going to win. 

They’d find out soon enough if El knew what he was talking about, and they did have that huge fishing net just laying around. “Don’t expect me to fish you out of a riptide.”

As long as he didn’t stray too far, and he came back up with enough fish for dinner, then Erik wasn’t going to complain.

He still felt an odd twinge of nervousness as El went out of view, deep beneath the waves, but he could reason well enough to say that it was a perfectly  _ normal, non-bonded  _ feeling to have as you watched a friend go overboard.

But as he saw him begin to swim like a fish, it faded easy.

“Hey, Serena?” Erik asked as he turned away from the waters, and headed back towards the cabin, “Are there any aquatic dragon species?”

Serena stuck a slip of paper between the pages of the book Sylv had given her, but only shrugged. “There’s no ocean in Arboria, so I’ve never seen one. But with all the different types we have seen, from the spitfires to the liege lizards, and the serpents in the highlands, I’m sure there exists such a dragon, somewhere.”

“Maybe El is one.” Veronica suggested from where she was sitting by the banister. “We’ve never seen one like him before, and he hasn’t come back up for air yet.”

There’s that twinge. “It’s been less than a minute. He’ll be back up soon.”

Erik settled down with his back against the railing to wait.

The wind held a chill in it. Erik had first noticed it in Gondolia, and he knew that the hot summer days would be drawing to a close soon.

They still probably had another month or so before the temperatures took a plunge, but even so, they’d need to start preparing soon.

They had plenty of gold squirreled away now, and aside from buying materials for upgrades, they hadn’t found much use for it yet.

Maybe it was time to start stockpiling.

They’d be able to get plenty of dried food and grains in pretty much any town, but furs and winter gear were another story.

Erik didn’t know much about the next few towns on their little itinerary, but maybe… maybe he could suggest a detour to Sniflheim? 

They could stock up on everything they needed, there.

That city was always under a blanket of snow.

Slyv and the twins would go off to explore the city, and maybe, he could convince El to go on a walk with him.

He could tell him the truth, then.

He could see how El could help.

Find out what the fates had in store… Only that would be a much bigger detour than he could expect to take.

All the way on the other side of the world… by the time they’d arrive winter would have already set in.

He’d get back there, back  _ home _ eventually, Erik knew, but each day that passed was still time he was losing.

Even if they were days lost in a journey Erik was coming to enjoy.

Erik heard Sylv join the rest of them, their footsteps anything but light coming down the steps.

“We’ll be anchoring in the Zwardsrust region by morning.” They said, and Erik turned to listen. “There’s a place we can stop for the night just a little further inshore, called the Warrior’s Rest. I think we should be able to drum up a little rumor or two about our Rainbough if we’re lucky. And it'll be good to spend a night in a proper inn, too.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Erik asked, “It might be smarter to stay on the ship. Two towns in a row now we’ve been caught by one trouble or another.”

“Oh, don’t be such a stick in the mud!” Sylv said, “Gallopolis was hardly anyone’s fault, and the odds of running into ol’ Jasper again so soon are slim to none! Isn’t that right, Ellie dear?” Sylv looked around, as if only just noticing that El wasn’t among them.

“He’s gone swimming.” Erik said, and turned to Veronica. “Has he surfaced yet?”

“Nope.” She answered quickly, still looking over the railing at the waters below. 

Erik frowned. He didn’t know how long El could hold his breath, but…  _ El _ ?

_ I’m not far!  _ Came El’s voice.  _ Give me just a minute! _

“He says he’ll be back soon.” Erik passed on, and took the opportunity to continue his argument. “Whether or not we’ll run into Jasper or Hendrick again isn’t our only problem. El’s on the run from  _ all of Heliodor _ , not to mention we need to keep him on the down low anyway, on account of who and what he is. A rest stop for travelers isn’t exactly going to be a quiet place.”

“Exactly why we need to stop there.” Veronica butted in, “if there’s one place we could find out anything about the Rainbough, it’s there.” 

Well. She wasn’t  _ wrong _ . “Then you and Serena go and have a look around. A smaller group will attract less attention, anyway. The rest of us can wait here.”

Sylv shared a look with the twins.

What, was he being difficult by trying to keep them safe?

“Erik, honey, don’t you think we’ll all be safer if we stick together?” Sylv asked, “El can just stay all little and cute and hide in your hood again, right?”

“Not necessarily. Less attention means less chance we’ll be remembered. And if we don’t get remembered, then there won’t be any reports of us being here to make it back to Hendrick or Jasper.” Erik paused before he continued. “And it isn’t exactly fair to El to stay like that constantly, either.” 

El hadn’t yet said as much, but Erik could hardly imagine being constantly carried around like some little lap dog was anything but embarrassing.

“It’s a fair point.” Serena offered him, ever the angel. “But, we will all have to continue on land at some point. We can’t just leave the Luminary waiting on board while we go off to find his destiny without him.”

Now he never suggested that much. “I know that. I don’t mean to leave him here indefinitely, I’m no mother hen-“

“Could’ve fooled me.” Erik did his best to ignore Veronica’s jab.

“But for now, so soon after running into Jasper, don’t you think it’d be better to hide him for a while? Isn’t that why we’ve been taking our time getting to Zwardsrust?”

Erik waited for someone to respond.

It took a few heartbeats, but Sylv broke first. 

“You’re right.” They started, but with a splash of water, and a loud  _ smack  _ of a tuna hitting the deck, El was back, and shaking water droplets from his scales. “But  _ you’re  _ the one who’s going to tell him.”

_ Tell me what? _

Oh please, like that would be a problem. El’d understand.

_ Serena and Veronica are going to snoop around about the Rainbough at an inn nearby after we dock. We’ll be waiting here.  _ Erik answered the dragon as he sat down next to him, water droplets still falling from his horns and spines.

_ Why aren’t we going? Are you feeling okay?  _ El’s head tipped to the side, and focused for a moment.  _ You  _ seem  _ okay. Is that scar you got still hurting?  _

Erik took a half-second to yet again be touched by El’s concern for him. It was still so new, having someone that genuinely cared for him like this, with no ulterior motive, no reason they  _ had  _ to care- “I’m fine.” Erik said aloud, even though the mark on his chest still stung, “But after running into Jasper in Gondolia, we need to keep you safe.”

El’s eyes narrowed and the voice Erik heard in his mind took on a distinctly different tone.  _ Me safe? I wasn’t the one that got caught. _

His tone wasn’t mocking, merely confused, but Erik felt as if he was being talked down to nonetheless.

Something must’ve shown on his face, or El’s for that matter, in the following silence, as Sylvando cut through the tense quiet with an over-the-top appreciative sound at the large fish El had brought back with him.

“Now,  _ this  _ is going to make for just a  _ spectacular  _ supper! I’ll just go ahead and take this down to the kitchens, okay?”

“Oh, Sylvando, do you need some help?” Serena got up, not bothering to mark her place in her book this time around, and made to help them without waiting for an answer.

Veronica wasn’t far behind, shutting the door behind them, but still loud enough to hear. “Do  _ not  _ let Serena cook again!”

In the blink of an eye, El was back to his human self, and wringing seawater from his hair.

Yet somehow his clothes weren’t wet.

Erik would need to ask how that worked someday.

“I was betting on staying in an Inn tonight, with a proper bath.” El said, flicking the water from his hands. “So I could get all the saltwater off.”

His tone wasn’t accusing or angry, but Erik still felt waves of disappointment coming from him.

“We all smell like the ocean right now.” Erik waved a hand at El, “it’s not that bad.”

El’s nose wrinkled. “Right.”

Erik, ever so wise, decided that it would be best not to respond.

~~

The day went by painfully slow.

Even on a ship this size, with a crew so tiny there wasn’t much that needed to be done.

There wasn’t any cleaning that needed to be done. Sylv and Dave stayed on top of the cleanliness in a way Erik wasn’t accustomed to. They didn’t have any routes to map out, or plans to make, since those all relied on the information the twins were meant to bring back. 

And so, Erik waited.

And waited.

With El holed up below deck, and still somewhat upset that he had to stay, Erik ended up pacing.

From the cabin to the bow, back and forth, trying to keep an eye out at the other ships, trying to keep an eye on the people milling about on the docks, searching for Heliodorians, for people that looked suspicious. 

Since the docks were mostly empty, and the shoreline clear of beach-goers, it wasn’t exactly a challenging task. 

It wasn’t until Erik was watching a fishing ship unload what had to be their hundredth crate of catch, did he see a splash of red coming over the crest of a hill.

He tried  _ very  _ hard not to feel like an overexcited house pet as he stood and waited for the twins to board.

And finally, after all day on deck, going down to the stuffy below deck to make a plan was much more pleasant than it sounded.

The room was lit by only a single lantern, but it was enough to see the two maps spread across the table, and the plates of food they’d all set out.

Maybe Erik should’ve gone with the twins.

As much as he did appreciate having fresh fruit and vegetables for dinner, he was terrified of hearing what they’d spent on them.

At the very least Erik could’ve swiped a few things from the produce stands to lighten their bill.

Sylv stabbed a very well-manicured finger at the shore they were currently anchored at, and traced a path behind the inn, and away from the main bridge that headed to the Octogonian region. 

“Now, since it sounds like our Rainbough has made it to Octogonia, we’ll need to make it there as fast as we can, but still avoid the main roads. It’ll be a more strenuous hike, but if we go around  _ this  _ area, we’ll find a smaller, less travelled route. After that we won’t have much choice in the matter, I’m afraid. The mountain pass is narrow, and there are only one or two clear paths to take. So unless you’re all prepared to forge our own way through the mountain it’s going to be our only option.”

“You make it sound like you’ve taken this road before.” Erik observed, not bothering to properly  _ eat  _ his food before speaking, blatantly ignoring Veronica’s insulted look.

It wasn’t like he was spewing half-chewed food anywhere, so what was her problem?

“Oh, just once.” Sylv said, letting their hands rest over the map. “It was a very long time ago now.” 

Sylv was staring at the corner of the map, and yet not quite seeing it, lost in a memory.

Erik didn’t want to interrupt, but thankfully, he wasn’t the one that had to.

“Perhaps you could tell us a bit about it?” Serena asked quietly, just firmly enough to break through. “I’m sure you have some information that could come in usefully.”

Sylv bounced back in an instant. “Oh, honey you know I do! Now, at this time of year, it’s likely our Rainbough is being offered up as a prize for the winner of their Masked Martial Arts tournament. I watched it last time I was in town, all kinds of strong men and women come from all over Erdrea to compete! They build personas for themselves, and some even make amazing costumes. I’d love to compete myself some day…” As they trailed off, Sylv’s eyes came to rest on El. “Speaking of costumes…” Their eyes dragged slowly up El’s body, and they tilted their head ever so slightly, a hand coming up to rest on their chin. “Hiding you in Octogonia might not be any trouble after all. A few ties around your horns… maybe some make-up over your scales, gloves… Yes! Oh, we’ll have you ready for the show in no time, darling!”

“For the show?” El asked, sounding meek.

“You mean you want him to compete?” Veronica asked before Erik could even begin to voice his concerns.

“Well, if I’m right and the Rainbough  _ is  _ the prize, then that’s what we’ll have to do. A little touch-up here and there, and if you can keep your wings still,  _ Ellie _ , you shouldn’t be at risk for being found out at all.”

Erik saw El’s shoulders hunch in close and his wings raise in the corner of his eye. He didn’t need to see his face to know he was already feeling stage fright.

“You do realize you’re traveling with Erdrea’s best thief, right?” Erik said, “I could have the Rainbough in just a few minutes if you’d let me try.”

“And miss out on all the  _ grandeur _ ? Surely not!” Sylv held up and waved both hands, as if it was truly unthinkable. “Ellie would look  _ amazing  _ on stage! Why, between his looks and his skills with a sword I’m positive he could make a name for himself there!”

“And that would be a good thing, how?” Erik asked, “We’re supposed to be keeping him  _ undercover _ , remember?”

“Even if you did steal it,” Veronica said, keeping a neutral tone, “then we’d have even more soldiers after us for that, as well as the Luminary.”

“You say that as if I’d get caught.”

“Well you didn’t stay in the Dungeons by your own choice, did you?” Veronica snickered, and as much as Erik wanted to tell her he actually did, thank you very much, he didn’t. It would bring up too many questions.

“We could all sign up for the tourney.” Serena said, calmly interjecting with an easy solution. “That way we’d have a better chance at winning, and if we all lose, then we’ll still have Erik’s plan as backup. We have to get the Rainbough, and if we’ll be attracting attention either way then there’s no point in only sticking to one plan.”

Erik had to concede. She was right. They needed that treasure, and if they were going to get attention anyway…

Erik scratched at the back of his neck, and turned to El.

“Well? What do you say?”

El still looked somewhat startled, but he pushed past his nerves and looked to Sylv. “How does the contest work?”

~~

“What's all that?” El stopped in his tracks as he saw ponds of purple ooze and piles of mossy stone just through the trees.

Even from so far away the area gave off terrible feelings of unease.

“That’s all that’s left of Zwardsrust.” Sylv answered, slowing their own pace to look. “So much heartbreak in so little time. The Kingdom was destroyed in a night, just over thirty years ago. So few made it out alive.”

“Just like Dundrasil.” Erik said, as if he could read El’s mind. Or- maybe he could. Who knows, at this point.

In the corner of his eye, El saw Sylv nod. “Just the same, except… I’ve never heard of anyone that survived the massacre there. But I used to know someone who’d survived Zwardsrust’s fall.”

“You did?” 

“Oh, listen to me prattle on. I haven’t spoken to them in years. Enough moping about, we’ve got Octogonia waiting for us, darlings!”

They’d stopped to rest just a little outside of Octogonia.

Erik could see the towering building from the cliff they’ve started their campfire at, and he was speechless.

_ That  _ was Octogonia? 

_ That  _ was a city? Hundreds of people, all living cramped together in a great, dark building?

He shuddered to think of what it might be like inside.

Surely it couldn’t be as bad as he was thinking.

Right?

_ Erik, help! _ El’s voice cut through the dread in Erik’s stomach, and he turned around back towards the campfire to see Sylv spreading foundation over El’s cheeks.

El, who was sitting with his claws digging into the fallen tree he was sitting on, his tail tapping on the ground behind him, and his eyes screwed shut and his nose wrinkled.

“Oh, come now, Ellie. Just sit still and this won’t take long at all!” Sylv was truly doing their best, trying to smooth over some of El’s more visible scales, that spotted over his nose and cheeks like freckles. 

Erik came to stand just behind Sylvando, careful not to block what little daylight remained.  _ What exactly do you expect me to do about this? _

El didn’t reply in so many words, but rather just gave one harsher lash of his tail.

Sylvando noticed. “Oh, what are you saying to the poor dear?” But they waited for no answer, capping the small bottle and wiping their fingers off on a handkerchief. “There. It’s a bit light for your skin tone, but Octogonia is dark. There shouldn’t be any issues.”

El opened his eyes, but kept his grimace. “Feels weird.” He tried to bring a hand up to touch his face, but Sylv smacked his hand away. “Ah ah ah, no touching. Not until that’s all dry.”

Erik tried to get a better look in the growing dim. The color  _ was  _ off, but whatever Sylvando had used did it’s job well enough. And aside from that, there was also something glittering on El’s cheekbones, and something dark lining around his eyes. 

Probably less than necessary, but it didn’t look half bad.

“All done,” Sylv said, releasing El’s chin after trying to see if they'd missed anything. “I’ll touch it up for you if you need it later, but that should be good for now, granted that you leave it be.”

~~

So far, Sylvando had been right about El.

He’d garnered more than his fair share of glances and double-takes, but that was it.

Just looks.

No screaming or crying, no guards or soldiers.

And believe it or not, he wasn’t the strangest person standing and waiting for the opening ceremony to begin. Not by a long shot. 

Just from where El was standing, he could see a man whose tongue fell all the way down to his stomach.

That just couldn’t be normal.

Maybe he was part monster.

Maybe that’s what El was.

He was suddenly very grateful that he was a dragon, and not whatever that poor man was.

A lips?

Maybe a toady?

Yeah. Being a dragon is much better.

The man on stage called a greeting to the crowd in the bleachers, and began to call numbers from the draw.

El stood quietly, listening to the murmur of his fellow contestants as each walked on stage, one by one.

Erik went up, and then Sylvando. Both being paired off separately. Good. More teams, more of a chance to win, even if he was inclined to believe that he and Erik would’ve made an unstoppable team.

It was unfortunate that Veronica was too young to participate.

She’d been spitting fire at the poor man keeping her from signing up, but she’d eventually been calmed and given the oh-so important duty of lookout.

Then- finally “Eleven! Fighter number eleven, please strip right up!”

El moved slowly, trying to keep his wings immobile, his tail stiff. 

Fighting wasn’t going to be the challenge, here.

“Alright!” The announcer called out, far too loud in El’s ear. “Time to find out who’ll be fighting beside you!” He extracted a yellow ball. “Number seven! Fighter number seven, come on down!”

“Looks like I’m up.”

The crowd parted for seven, allowing him plenty of room to walk up the stairs. 

“Well how about that! Newcomer Eleven’s partner is none other than last year's champion, Vince Vanquish!”

Vince offered a hand to El, “Good to meet you! Let’s break some heads.” His voice was friendly enough, but there was something in the pit of El’s stomach that told him to run.

El followed Vince back down to wait for the draw to finish, and as the ceremony closed, El looked around for Erik.

“So, kid.” Vince said, and El turned.

Vince, looked him up and down as the crowd dispersed, something almost like contempt on his face. “I know a lot of us like to dress up a bit, make a persona for the crowd, but all that is a bit much, don’t you think? A lot for your opponents to target.”

El didn’t know what to say to that. He couldn’t exactly offer to tone it back.

“The horns are a nice touch, but maybe get rid of the wings, yeah?” Vince turned his head as the rest of the crowd filed outside. “I’ll see you for the first round in the morning. Don’t be late, I’m not about to forfeit the belt.”

Champion or not, El felt like he could’ve gotten a better partner. 

Speaking of… 

“Hey!” Erik’s hand clapped down on El’s shoulder, and it was lucky that the stadium had cleared, and no one was around to see him jolt. El ignored his snicker. “You’ve gotta calm down if you want to have any chance out there.”

“I don’t think anyone will be sneaking up on me in the middle of a fight.” El said, letting Erik sling his arm around his neck, and lead him out of the stadium. 

“That’s what you think. But, hey! You got the champion! Looks like Sylv and I didn’t need to sign up after all.”

El grimaced. “I guess. He didn’t like my  _ costume _ . Told me to tone it back, lose the wings.” 

Erik laughed, “He’ll just have to deal with them.” AS they made it to the bottom of the stairs, Erik took his arm away. “Come on, we’re all going to the tavern.”

The tavern? “We aren’t just going back to the inn?”

“Why? You want to?” Erik grinned, “Sylv was right. I haven’t seen a single soldier since we got here, and you actually aren’t the most unusual looking. I mean, did you see the guy with the huge tongue? We’re going to have to be here for a few days to wait out the competition, so we might as well relax a bit.”

Being able to take the time to do nothing, El decided, was  _ very  _ good.

It took some time to get used to the loud clamor of the tavern, but eventually he relaxed enough to smile and laugh and enjoy his free time.

Until, at least, he spotted Vince staring from the other side of the Tavern.

~~

Erik saw the moment it changed.

He could pinpoint the exact second El was no longer enjoying Octogonia. The moment his face closed off, and the smile that had been so bright and genuine only a second before turned forced and fake.

What he didn’t understand, was  _ why.  _

El wasn’t talking. Not out loud, and not to Erik.

El must know that he couldn’t lie to him. 

So why was he trying to?

Erik didn’t want to go around accusing anyone of anything, but…

He suspected it had something to do with Vince.

He’d been seeing the man nearly everywhere they went - and it shouldn’t be too unusual, it was his hometown, after all.

But to see him  _ everywhere _ ?

He didn’t trust Vince, and he knew El didn’t either.

So when Erik heard that El had actually  _ followed  _ Vince back to the orphanage after a single throw-away comment from another fighter, what was he supposed to do but go and check it out himself?

The children said that Vince was in his room, that his  _ friend  _ had gone with him.

How nice those children were, showing him exactly which door it was.

He  _ had  _ been planning on being polite. 

But as Vince’s voice drifted to him, fire burned inside of Erik.

“You should stay here tonight.” Vince said, “you down with that?”

Erik felt El’s uncertainty. “No, actually.” El said, “I should get back to my friends-“

“Come on, man,” Vince said, “there’s no need to be polite or nothin’.”

“R-really, I don’t think-“

Erik slammed the door open. 

The room was a mess, as if there’d been a struggle. Glass lay broken and a table was overturned.

And smack right in the middle of the room, Vince had El by the wrist.

“Erik,” El brightened, and jerked his hand away, moving quickly to the door.  _ Thank you _ . 

Erik slammed the door behind him, not sparing a thought for Vince as he followed El down the hall, and out into town.

“What did he want?” Erik asked as El’s pace slowed to normal. “Did he-“

“Nothing.” El cut him off, guilt churning in his stomach. “He didn’t want anything.”

Erik slowed to a stop as El kept walking. What-

“Thanks for coming to check on me.”

El didn’t slow, he didn’t turn to look at Erik, and somehow, Erik was even more confused than before.

~~

The first three days of the tournament went by easy enough, even if Erik lost in the first round to that martial artist girl and the old man.

El and Vince made a pretty good team in the ring. They were able to coordinate their attacks fairly well, and for the last few bouts they’d hardly taken a scratch.

It was a good thing, El had to tell himself. 

He was the last of their group left in the fight, with Sylvan-  _ Sterling Sylva _ , having lost to El and Vince just yesterday.

But there was just  _ something  _ about Vince that made El feel uncomfortable.

Ever since he’d seen him watching in the tavern, a feeling of foreboding had settled inside of him, and it refused to leave.

It was just one more day after today.

Today he had the finals. All El had to do was fight one last fight, and then after the closing ceremony tomorrow, he could take the Rainbough and leave Octogonia behind.

It was really a shame.

If Vince hadn’t been a black stain on his staying here, El wouldn’t actually  _ want  _ to leave. 

For the first time since he left Cobblestone, El had the freedom to come and go as he pleased. 

And for the first time period, El had been witness to things that Cobblestone simply didn’t have.

The lights, the shows, and stores. Even the restaurant they’d been eating at every night was new and different to El.

But with the hairs on the back of his neck constantly raised… 

he couldn’t enjoy it.

And he knew that everyone else knew, or at least had their suspicions.

Erik wasn’t as easy to smile as he had been that first day. He was constantly checking in on El, making sure he was okay.

And of course he wasn’t, and of course Erik knew that. He felt all the same things that El did. 

But El didn’t know how to say no.

He didn’t know how to look someone in the eye and say he wasn’t okay.

El had been short with him, these past few days. 

He should apologize.

The cheering started around the stage as Jade and Rab, the Princess and the Pudding, stood before himself and Vince.

The announcer made his speech, and El searched the crowd for a speck of bright blue.

Maybe he should wave.

But the bell rang out, and he started to fight.

These two were odd… he’d seen them power through opponents like nothing, for the goddess’s sake Jade had single handedly taken down Erik.

But their blows were soft.

El didn’t think he’d walk away from this fight with so much as a bruise- and when they went down, it felt unearned.

El waited, and waited. For a fake-out, for something to happen.

But Vince had put away his weapons.

The crowd was cheering.

“We have a winner! Vince Vanquish has done it again!”

Jade and Rab walked off stage, but Jade spared a calculating look over her shoulder.

“The In-Vince-ables have taken the final, and what a final it was!”

“We did it, man, we won!” Vine was grinning wide. “And so easy! You know, the prize is supposed to be worth a buncha dough. How about we sell it and split-“

Vince stopped, hand going to his chest, and collapsed- somehow still holding tight around the trophy, groaning in agony.

Had he been hit? 

El stood back as two blacksmiths rushed in to help him up.

“You’re his partner, ain’t you?” One of them asked, “Come and give us a hand.”

El didn’t want to.

All his instincts were screaming at him to run.

But he did what he was told.

He could leave in the morning.

The walk to the orphanage was suffocating.

Every step took all of El’s focus.

When he had Vince settled on the bench in the garden, he turned to leave.

“I’ll see you at the awards ceremony.” El said, forcing the words out,

He didn’t really have anything to say.

He was no medic, there was nothing he could do.

He didn’t see Vince pick up the glass bottle.

The world spun, and went black.

He swam in and out of consciousness, hardly aware of what was happening. 

El’s ears rang from the hit, and he could feel a sticky wet heat where his blood plastered his shirt to his skin.

He could barely think… barely piece together the energy to fight against his bonds.

“Dragon parts are worth quite a lot, you know.” The chain burned where it touched El’s flesh. “Horns are ground to powder for medicine, the blood can lift curses, and the meat is priceless - somethin’ only the truly wealthy ever get a taste of… it’s a waste just givin’ you up. I oughta just auction you off myself. Wouldn’t need to work another day in my life.”

The ground was cold beneath El’s cheek.

This was his own fault.

He didn’t listen - Erik was only trying to keep him safe. To keep them all safe.

_ Erik. Sorry, sorry. _

Could Erik even hear him anymore?

A hand closed around his horn, and his head left the stone. 

He hoped he could.

It wasn’t much.

But at the least, he hoped that Erik was still okay. 

~~

Erik felt restless. A nervous kind of energy that made him pace the small room. Bed to window, window to door. Back to the bed.

El wasn’t coming back. 

It was getting dark.

Erik tried to reach out, to  _ feel  _ his presence, but he found nothing. He couldn’t still be in the arena, it was so close to the Inn for Erik to  _ not  _ be able to detect him.

He must be with Vince again.

Fucking  _ Vince _ .

Erik hated him the moment he’d laid eyes on him. He couldn’t even offer a concrete reason. He just did. There was something sinister about him. Something that set off alarm bells in Erik’s mind.

He didn’t make any secret of it, either.

Maybe that’s what’s been driving El closer to him. Erik’s been acting like a jealous girlfriend. 

Or maybe, like a Dragon Keeper.

But El is more than just a dragon. He doesn’t need Erik in his space all day every day.

El never asked for Erik to be in his mind. 

Erik was an intruder here.

Maybe Vince was a fine man.

Maybe Erik really was just jealous.

He shouldn’t have reacted that way last night. He had no right to take him away like that. He probably misunderstood what he saw.

_ Thank you _ . El had said. Perhaps-

A knock on the door.

It wasn’t El.

And Sylv or the twins would’ve announced themselves, or just barged right on in.

It couldn’t be too important, not if it wasn’t any of them. Erik stilled, hoping whoever it was hadn’t heard him moving around, or didn’t care enough to try again.

A moment passed. Two, three, then-

The knock came again, and with it, a voice.

“It’s me, Rab.” The old man from the competition? “I need to have a word with ye.”

“May we come in?” A woman’s voice. The girl? What could they possibly-

“It’s about the missing fighters.” 

Erik opened the door just a crack. “What about them?” 

“Where’re your friends?” Jade asked, trying to peer around him, “we wanted to speak with all of you.”

“Sylvando and the twins are three rooms that way,” Erik nodded in the other direction, “and El is with Vince.”

“He’s with  _ Vince _ ?” Jade’s voice took on a tone of disbelief. “Are you  _ mad _ ?”

Erik unlatched the lock and opened the door wider, “What’s going on?” His poor mood is completely forgotten in favor of El’s safety. “Is he in danger?”

Jade was already off down the hall, banging her fists on the door Erik had pointed out, and Rab was already making for the stairs,

“Come with us, we’ll fill you in on the way.”

Erik follows the old man without a spare thought, taking the many stairs around town two at a time. Just in earshot if Rab, but still ahead.

He knew where he was going. 

The orphanage was empty, the chapel devoid of any of the resident children, any movement.

Erik was about to find Vince’s room again.

It’s where El had gone the previous night, surely he’d be there again-

“Where do ye think ye’re going, laddie?” Rab’s voice shook Erik out of his thoughts. He was heading through the doorway opposite the bedrooms. “Just stay behind me!”

Well, Rab had been right.

In the far wall of the garden, there was a gaping stairwell that hadn’t been there before.

And right in the center of the room, a splattering of blood.

Erik heard Serena gasp, he saw her grip her wand harder, ready to cast her healing spells, ready to protect them all from whatever had done this.

Erik didn’t have healing spells. He couldn’t string together the right arcane words to stitch together broken flesh or bind bones.

But he did have his blade.

The carefully crafted hilt fit perfectly in his palm.

Erik couldn’t heal El when they found him.

But he was ready to send Vince, or whoever had hurt El, straight to hell.

Not one person in their group hesitated at the mouth. Not when the lanterns were no longer lit.

Not when the webs began to appear in the corners of the tunnel.

_ Erik. Sorry, sorry _ . 

El’s voice.

Fear burst through Erik’s body, leaving him feeling cold.

_ El!  _ Erik tried to answer, tried asking where he was, if he’s okay. 

He received no response.

It was everything Erik could do not to take off at a run and leave everyone else in his dust.

He’d need their help.

El needed all of them.

The webs only got thicker the further they got through the tunnels.

The monsters that made the caverns their home cowered in the corners, trembling in fear, but not of the group of humans that had paraded into the tunnels they called home, no.

There was something else here that they feared.

At least the cave system made sense.

There were many forks to take, but thankfully they all seemed to come out at about the same place, and it wasn’t long until they came into a large, open section.

But even if it was dug out like a maze, it wouldn’t have mattered.

Not when there was a trail of blood to follow.

In the center of the cavern, Vince stood, Eleven hanging just above the ground, suspended by Vince’s grip on his horn. His wrists and ankles bound, deathly still, a small pool of blood gathering beneath him.

“ _ El! _ ” Erik called to him, but he didn’t move. He couldn’t even tell if he was breathing. 

Vince startles at their sudden appearance, dropping the simple kitchen knife that was in his other hand. 

He let go of El’s horn, letting the dragon crumple to the floor, without a thought.

Vince tried to run.

Erik charged forward, knives forgotten, and landed a punch to the bridge of Vince’s nose, the reverberating  _ crack _ of breaking cartilage doing nothing to settle Erik’s fury. Instead, it only made it stronger.

Everything was in a red haze, Erik could hear his pulse pounding in his ears, and he felt himself lose any remaining grasp he had on his temper.

Another hit to his face, another splintering sound of bone on bone, and Vince went down.

Dragons may have a weakness to iron, but everyone has a weakness to blunt force trauma.

Erik did not slow, and Vince hardly tried to defend himself, his hands pushing at Erik, trying to shove him off as he was assaulted, but for all the muscle, all the show, there was no power behind him, no force behind his hands.

The stark white of a tooth ripped from its root, the red blood blending into the background as it streamed from Vince’s shattered nose, as it dripped between his clenched teeth.

Someone was speaking.

Erik couldn’t hear them.

He kept going, hitting again and  _ again,  _ until there were hands on his arms, pulling him away.

“ _ Goddamn it _ , stop!” Erik snarled as he fought back, he wasn’t finished yet! Vince was going to  _ pay  _ for laying a hand on El. He was going to -

“You’ll  _ kill  _ him!”

Like a shock of ice water in his system, Erik stopped.

The hands on his arms let go, and he sank to the ground, and stared at what he’d done.

His knuckles were drenched red. 

Vince was trying to sit up, his face a mess of blood and darkening skin. His right eye was swollen shut, a line of red dripping down over it and down his chin.

He was going to kill him. With his bare hands.

“I-“ Erik croaked, but stopped. What was he going to say? What  _ could  _ he say?

The air was too thick around him. Too heavy to breathe.

Vince stood shakily, remaining eye on his pursuers. The tunnel behind him was nearly halfway obscured by the thick webbing, but the moment Jade took a step closer, he turned tail and ran.

Leaving red marks on the web.

Another trail of blood to follow, albeit his own this time.

Everyone took chase, leaving Erik in the dust. 

“Stay with him!” Jade called back to him as she followed the rest of their companions down the tunnel, “you keep him safe or so help me-“

“ _ Jade _ !” Rab called from further down, and with a curse she turned and ran, not sparing a second to finish her threat.

Not that she even needed to.

_ El.  _ Erik had nearly forgotten in his shock. 

Serena had healed during Erik’s frenzy, but even as the wounds were closed, the blood remained.

It was smeared over his forehead, dried in streams down his face.

It was wet on his clothes, ripped fabric marking where the blade had cut through him.

It had begun to well from welts around his wrists, where the iron still touched him.

He set to work on the chains. They weren’t held in place by any locks, only secured by simple hooks. As soon as he’d unwrapped them, he’d tossed them as far as he could across the open cavern.

Just far enough away to keep El from any further harm.

He still wasn’t moving, not so much as a twitch of his fingers or a sound to indicate life.

Erik pulled him into his lap, an arm holding him tight around his shoulders, and his other under his wings.

He pressed his ear to El’s chest, and nearly sobbed out in relief as he heard El’s heartbeat.

He was alive.

That’s all that mattered.

He was alive, he was safe now.

Erik had him, and he wasn’t going to let go again.

He held him close, even as he could hear their companions begin to fight, the clash of weapons, yelling, all echoing back up to him.

They could all handle themselves. 

They would be fine.

It did occur to him about how he panicked if El was even out of his field of vision, in an area that would be completely safe, and yet  _ knowing _ ,  _ hearing _ the proof of their other friends fighting just out of his sight, didn’t even begin to match the anxiety he felt for El.

Dependent, much?

Erik felt every second that slipped by, every drop of water that fell from the stalactites above to  _ splash  _ in the pools below.

He felt every  _ thrum  _ of El’s heart against his own chest.

And finally, he felt El stir. It wasn’t much, just his tail curling ever so closer to his body, the wing bent awkwardly against the ground folding in, and lastly, El’s hand closing in Erik’s tunic.

“Hey, there,” Erik tried to adjust his hold on El, to hold him farther from the cold stone floor. His voice was cracked with worry.

“Vince…” El croaked, “you’re not safe here. He’s the one who’s been-“

“We know.” Erik said as he held El’s head close to his chest. “Don’t worry, everyone’s taking care of it. You’re safe now.”

“I’m sorry, Erik.” His voice shook at the end, pitching up as if he was going to cry, but nothing came. “I’m sorry-“

“Don’t worry about it.”

The sounds stopped coming, an awful screech echoing past them.

Then came a quiet murmuring of several voices, and the distinct feel of magic in the air.

They’d done it, taken down Vince and whatever it was he’d had hiding.

Footsteps echoed back up to them.

“Can you stand?” Erik asked, “or change? We need to get you out of here.” He was prepared to have to carry a small dragon out, fully expecting that to be the option he chose, but it felt better giving him the option. 

“Not on my own, but I think I can stand.” El let go of his tunic. “Can… can you help me up?”

“‘Course I can.”

Ever so gently, Erik unwound himself from El’s body, and slowly got them both to their feet, supporting El the whole way, and letting himself be El’s crutch.

Jade dragged Vince by his hair mercilessly, not slowing her pace for the injured and bloodied man, not pausing when he stumbled or tripped.

The scarf that had been tied around his waist was gone, now keeping his hands tied around his back instead.

When she reached them, she let go of his hair, throwing him down to his knees.

Without missing a beat, she used the heel of her boot to press his face into the stone and muck, “Oh, thank goodness you’re awake.” She was looking directly at El, with a frighteningly clear level of familiarity. She’d only met him twice before, both times in the past two days as well, so why-

Her expression changed as she took in his state, even though his wounds were closed, his clothing was still stained with blood, and he was leaning far too heavily on Erik.

“We were right,” Rab told him, “Vince was behind the disappearances. He’s been in league with a nasty creature Sir Hendrick must’ve missed. He’s been draining them dry of life force, and trickling some to our auld pal here.”

Erik felt cold. Was  _ that  _ what he’d been leading El into? “Are they alive?”

“Aye.” Rab nodded, “all still alive, though quite a bit worse for wear. We only left them to take this one to the mayor. He won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, I’ll tell ye what.”

Erik eyed the man on the ground carefully. “And he’ll believe you? Octogonia will believe you?”

“They won’t have much of a choice.” Rab shook his head, “with the testimonies of the contestants, the bottles in his room… Like it or not the people here will know the truth when they see it.”

Vince cursed at the ground. His voice cut off as Jade pressed down harder, but Rab waved his hand at her. “Ah, give it a rest. Let’s hear what he’s got to say for himself.”

Jade released him just enough for him to raise his head. His eyes flicked between his four captors before settling on El.

Erik held him tighter.

He wanted to turn him away, take El away from here, to the opposite end of the world from Vince.

“I did it for the orphanage. Those kids… they’re my family. I had to put food on the table for them somehow, and a third-rate fighter like me… I couldn’t do it on my own. When that creature started whispering to me… Offering so much power, and all I had to do was feed it… How could I say no?”

Rab wasn’t convinced. “As if fighting is the only way to make money around here.” He shook his head sadly, contempt clear in his voice. “There’s a point where you could’ve found another way to make money, and it’s long past. I think that maybe you just enjoyed the Limelight too much. I’ll make sure to have a word with the mayor. I’m sure we’ll find a suitable replacement for ye.”

“Wait!” Vince turned to El again, his voice taking on a note of desperation, “Wouldn’t you do the same for your own family? If it kept them safe and well?”

“You  _ slimy little _ -“ Jade hauled him back to his feet, and began pushing him towards the far tunnel. 

“I wouldn’t.” El said as they passed. “I think… I think if they were still around, they’d rather be dead than to know their comfort came at the cost of other people’s lives and freedom.”

Erik waited as the two walked out of sight. Waited for El to become steadier on his feet, and began to make his way after them.

It was slow going, with El so unsteady. 

But Erik wasn’t about to question why he so suddenly needed to remain in his human form. 

There was a group of people gathered around the entrance to the tunnels, but one glance from the mayor was all it took before he was waved on his way. “Don’t worry about paying the innkeep. I’ve taken care of it for you. The rewards ceremony has been cancelled as well. You both go and rest. We’ll all take this from here.”

The roads were mostly empty from that point forward. 

It would’ve been an easy walk if it were not for all the stairs.

Who thought it was a good idea to build a city this way?

When finally, Erik got them in their room with the door closed behind them, he let out a great shuddering breath. 

Too close.  _ Too close _ .

Erik settled El down on his bed, but he could  _ feel  _ his lightheadedness.

His eyes were unfocused as he looked up at Erik, and the moment he let go, El swayed slightly.

He’d lost a lot of blood.

Erik worked silently, removing the fake ties and knots from around his horns, and carefully peeling off the bloody duster and undershirt.

Moving as quickly as he could, Erik filled the room's water basin, and wet a cloth.

He should try to warm the water, but he wasn’t sure how long El would be able to stay conscious.

Gently, he pressed it to El’s temple to wipe away the dried blood, but El still hissed as it came in contact.

Erik murmured an apology, and tried to clean the blood that was trying to mat in his hair.

It wasn’t long until the water was tinted pink, and El’s face and shoulders were clean.

His scales were visible again, his disguise wiped away.

It wasn’t any substitute for a proper bath, but at the very least El wouldn’t wake covered in his own blood, and the poor innkeeper wouldn’t have to toss a set of ruined sheets.

There are two beds in their room, but when Erik helps El settle into his for the night, a clawed hand catches his sash before Erik can go to his own.

“Please…” El’s grip is white-knuckled, “please don’t leave me alone.”

He could say that he’s just on the other side of the room. He could simply ask El to let go.

But neither option would even have occurred to him.

Instead, Erik lifts the blanket again, and lays against his dragon.

“Don’t worry,” Erik said as El came close, “I’m not going anywhere.”

El’s hands closed around the small of his back, and his nose buried in his chest. He can hear wind chimes in his mind. Clanging and ringing as if caught in a windstorm.

“I’ve got you. It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay.”

He isn’t crying, but his shoulders shake as if he was.

It came too close this time.

Before… before they had managed to escape each time before things got too rough. Erik found Serena before El could get  _ too  _ sick. Sylv saved El before the Slayer could do irreparable damage. El saved  _ him  _ before the dark magic could kill him. 

But this time -

Erik didn’t know exactly what Vince had planned on doing to El.

Erik laid one arm under El’s head, pillowing his neck, just out range of his horn. The other sat over his shoulder to run comfortingly through his hair. 

Evidence said that Vince had planned on giving El to the Archtagon like the other missing fighters, but… 

The fighters that were saved were mostly intact. They had no open wounds, no signs that Vince had - Erik held El closer as images of his dragon, bound and bleeding, showed in his mind again. Vince hadn’t bled the others, so why El?

Erik thought back to Serena using his blood to cure the child in Gondolia. 

He thought of the legends and tales of dragons. The magical secrets they held, the wealth they hoarded.

It was no real mystery why Vince took El.

Slowly, El’s shakes faded. 

His grip in Erik’s tunic loosened, and the sound faded as he fell asleep.

And again, Erik waited.

Waited for him to sleep deeply, waited for the moonlight to shift. Waited for complete silence. 

And cried.

He had no right to be the one breaking down.

He wasn’t the one who’d been trussed up like a pig for slaughter.

He wasn’t the one who still had to continue on right after.

And yet Erik couldn’t help himself.

He didn’t know what to do with all these feelings he’d come to find himself with.

Things he’d never expected to feel again.

Things that felt so raw and frayed, so close to the surface, so clear in comparison to the dull and faded things he’d been feeling ever since he’d left that hovel in the Snærfelt.

He didn’t know  _ why _ he’d begun to feel these things. Or, well, he  _ knew  _ why, El… His El, his amazing, bright, wonderful El… He loved him for so many things -

_ Love. _

Erik paused, his hand stilling in El’s hair even as his tears still fell.

He  _ loved  _ him.

Like a burst of sunlight in his chest, a comforting warmth that spread past his ribs.

But it didn’t quite make it all the way.

Like trying to keep a fire lit with wet wood, it didn’t last long. 

El didn’t share these feelings, surely.

Erik didn’t feel that warmth from El. He didn’t… he couldn’t be in the same boat. El was so much less reserved than Erik was, in this way. Even with his fewer words, his subtler expressions - El was a much easier read than most other people.

And besides, El was nothing like Erik.

He wasn’t a desperate and lonely wanderer, he wasn’t some street thug or criminal.

He was the Luminary. He… he was El.

Erik pressed his face to the top of El’s head as fresh tears began to fall, and tried to remain still, to remain quiet, to enjoy this one stolen moment in time.

Erik loved his dragon. Even if it wasn’t returned.

He’d stay by his side as long as he would be allowed to, he’d be El’s partner and companion. He’d be his keeper and friend for as long as he could. And when El was finally done with him… 

Well. If all goes to plan, Erik would have forgiveness.

His heart was broken already.

He could suffer it again if that would be the outcome, this time around.

~~

El was the first to wake in the morning.

Awareness came back to him slowly, but for once, that was in no part due to any chill in the air.

There was a weariness in his bones, a sort of exhaustion El did not know, but what kept him asleep for so long was the  _ warmth. _

Even with most of his back exposed to the air, El was secure.

Erik’s arms wrapped around him, holding him tight even in sleep. 

And he wasn’t the only one. El was holding him as well, arms wrapped snug around his middle, and his tail wrapped halfway around the leg that lay between his own.

Body heat, then.

But still… there was something else.

Something that came from deep inside - something El was familiar with, and at the same time, not.

El closed his eyes again. Tried to focus, to draw it in closer, to place the feeling.

But a knock pounded on the door, and Sylv’s voice called through the wood. “Yooohoooo!” They called through, “I’m so sorry to disturb your rest -“

Erik startled awake with a yelp the moment Sylvando’s voice rose, and he sat up far too quickly.

El’s head was knocked back slightly as Erik’s face collided with his horns.

Erik’s hands went up to press to his eye, and lost his balance, sliding off the edge of the narrow bed and onto his ass.

“Erik!” El leaned over the edge, hands a few inches away from Erik’s face, unsure of how to help.

There wasn’t any blood-

“Oh, honey you need to be careful!” Sylvando said from the doorway, “Those things could poke your eye out!”

Erik pulled his hands away, and blinked rapidly a few times. No damage. “ _ Thank you _ , Slyv. Very helpful.” Erik’s voice dripped with sarcasm, and he pressed the heel of his hand against his eye again.

It looked puffy.

Oh no, had he given himself a black eye? El needed to get some ice. He started to get up, throwing the blanket off when Sylv piped up again.

“Darlings, darlings, you should have said something! If you only needed one bed, you should’ve said! Don’t you worry, just let me know in the next town and I’ll be sure you get a  _ proper  _ room.”

El felt his face color red, and his wings lift slightly. That - they hadn’t! 

Erik was stumbling over his words. “That- no- we just-  _ argh!”  _ Erik dropped his face back into his hands and gave up. It just wasn’t worth the trouble.

Sylvando was openly grinning. It was  _ far  _ too easy to rile up their boys. 

But the smile fell from their face. They’d come for a reason, after all.

Sylvando held out an opened letter for El to take. 

“The old man and lovely young lady from yesterday made off with your prizes. They want us to meet them in the ruins of Dundrasil. I know you should still be resting, Ellie. Take your time getting ready, we’re in no hurry. And just let me know if you need to sit this one out. I’m sure the rest of us can figure something out.”

El skimmed over the letter and sighed.

He didn’t want to go to Dundrasil.

He was scared of what he may find there.

But at the same time, he didn’t want to stay here in Octogonia, either.

“Okay.” El settled on saying. “We’ll be ready to go soon. Thank you.”

Sylv caught on to what he wasn’t saying. “Of course, Darling. Don’t mention it.”

El didn’t move until the door had closed behind them.

Then, he dropped his head and let the paper flutter to the ground.

“El-“

“We’ve spent too long here anyway.” El said, slowly starting to get up. “I don’t want to spend  _ any  _ more time here -“ he felt a little unsteady on his legs as he reached down to pick up his shirt. 

It was still bloody.

He needed a different one. Where are their bags?

Erik pulled himself up from the floor, and pressed down on El’s shoulders, making him sit back down.

“You don’t have to tell me what happened.” Erik said, keeping his hands on El. “I understand. But you  _ do  _ need to tell me if you’re okay.”

“Erik-“ El had tensed up, tried to move, but Erik held fast.

“You can’t lie to me. I can tell, you know? But that wasn’t something you can just pick up from.”

“ _ Erik _ .”

“It’s my job to keep you safe. And I can only do that if you’re honest with me, right? So-“

“Erik, I’m sitting on my tail.” He couldn’t help but smile a bit as Erik scrambled to give him room. It was small, but it was enough to make him feel just that little bit better. 

Tail now no longer being crushed under his own weight, El stopped to think.

He wasn’t okay.

He knew that Erik knew this, and yet he was still being given the option to stay quiet.

Erik sat down next to him, their shoulders just touching, and waited.

“I’m okay.” El said, “I’m just a little tired. Serena got me fixed up, and-“

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

El didn’t turn to meet his eyes.

Instead, he kept his eyes down. 

He saw the scar that ran down his chest. He saw the scales that ran in stripes down his arms, across his collar. 

He saw the mark of light on the back of his clawed hand.

El swallowed, fighting back the rush of emotions he didn’t know how to decipher.

“I… don’t think I am.” El tried, and waited a moment. For the right words to come. “All of this… all the way from Heliodor… none of it would’ve happened if I was just  _ normal _ . The King would’ve believed I was the Luminary. I wouldn’t have to hide in every town. You wouldn’t have been hurt in Gondolia, Vince wouldn’t-“ El cut off,  _ somethin’ only the truly wealthy ever get a taste of…  _ He’d been too far gone when it all happened. His brain and body slipped away from him, but now that he was safe, now that Vince was gone and Erik was here, he began to actually  _ think  _ about everything that happened. His breath shuddered out of his lungs, and he felt a few small points of pain as his claws dug into his leg.

Before he’d even noticed him move, Erik was before El on the floor, gently pulling his claws away.

He held on to El’s hands as he spoke. “If it means anything, I like you this way.” His thumbs ran over the backs of his hands, over his scales, over the mark of light. “I like traveling with you, with everyone. I like the bond we share now. And,” he added on, “If you were  _ normal,  _ whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean in any group that has me, Veronica, and Sylvando in it, I would still be in the dungeons, or dead in a ditch somewhere. I’m glad I found you, El.”

El’s vision blurred with the tears that finally began to fall. One, two tears fell down to his hands.

Erik let one of his hands go, in favor of reaching up to wipe away his tears. 

And really, what had El ever done to deserve this? 

“You tell me what happened when you’re ready, alright? I’ll wait.”

To deserve someone like Erik?

Erik took his hands away, and stood by the door.

“You take your time.” He said, “We’ll leave when you’re ready.”

~~

Walking up the long, twisting staircase to the ruined city was like walking into another world.

A world where time stood still.

There were no sounds to break the silence, save for their own footsteps, that echoed loudly through the hollowed out buildings.

There was no breeze to disturb the plant life, to whistle through the tree branches.

The sun shone its evening light, and bathed the world in gold.

Everything it touched may as well have been a statue.

“So this is Dundrasil…” Sylv’s voice was uncharacteristically sober as they all looked around. “I’d heard the rumors… but I could never have expected this.” Voice quiet, as if speaking any louder would shatter what remained. “What a beautiful place it once was. All just gone. The King and Queen, and the poor Princess of Heliodor… Oh, but I don’t need to be saying all this. They were your family, after all.”

El didn’t know what to say, or do, or even feel, for that matter.

His heart ached in a way he couldn’t quite describe.

The poor people of Dundrasil, not one of them deserving of such a horrible fate.

He knew what was coming before it happened.

But it didn’t stop El from startling when Erik’s hand came to rest on the back of his neck.

“You alright?” Erik asked, and El felt his concern.

El tried to offer a small, but reassuring smile, but he knew it wasn’t enough. He knew that Erik still felt everything.

Erik moved his hand to take El’s in his instead.

“Now,” Erik says, as if nothing happened. As if he didn’t feel the nearly painful squeeze of El’s heart. “Why here? Where’s Rab?”

“Over there!” Veronica pointed, and turned to look at the party, “those torches are lit. Someone must be inside.”

Nearly the moment she spoke, a flash of orange caught El’s eye. 

Just below the overhanging arch, Rab turned the corner, and waited, just in sight.

He smiled warmly as El approached, Erik still in tow, “Oh, so ye made it at last.” His voice was as warm as his smile, and again, something almost like familiarity sparked in El’s mind.

“Where’s your friend,” Erik asked, glancing around in the growing evening shadows, as if he expected to find her hiding just out of sight. “The girl, Jade?”

“She has… duties to attend to.” Rab explained, “She’ll be ever so happy you came, though. As am I.”

“It’s not like we had any choice. We need the Rainbough. What’ve you done with it?”

“Oh, you need it, do ye?” Rab’s hand came up to twirl in his moustache, “that wouldn’t be because your pal here is the Luminary, would it?”

El felt both his own, and Erik’s shock as the title was spoken. 

“How could you know…” Erik’s shock bled into something like suspicion, but El only began to feel numb.

“Och, I knew it was you the moment I saw ye.” The old man’s face had gone soft. He had one hand half-extended towards El, as if he wanted to reach out and touch him, but was too afraid.

But afraid of what?

Of rejection? El himself? Or perhaps, that his hand would pass through him, that all this really was all too good to be true, that he was only dreaming what he wanted to see.

“I thought ye’d died years back, laddie. When I saw ye at the tournament my heart skipped more than a few beats, let me tell ye!”

El didn’t move closer, but he didn’t move away, either.

“You know me?” He asked instead, eyes locked on the old man’s face, trying to remember, trying to match a name, a memory to him.

“Aye, I do.” The old man’s voice cracked, “but don’t worry, you were nae old enough to remember me. Now, come along. There’s something I want to show you, if ye’ll indulge an auld man for a wee while.”

_ Well, that’s trustworthy _ . Erik said, trying to be lighthearted, trying to lift the dark feeling that had settled into his chest ever since they arrived. 

El gave no sign that he heard, following the old man as if he was in a trance, as if there wasn’t anyone else around, as if Erik wasn’t desperately trying to stay close.

The crumbled buildings, the ivy creeping along the remaining pillars of stone, the moss blanketing the stone walkways… 

what could possibly be left here?

Erik was sure that no one still lived here, and there was no way there’d be anything valuable left among the rubble.

After so many years it was all surely gone.

But maybe that’s why he was here. 

A safe haven where no one else wanted to tread.

“Ach, this place brings back memories.” The old man said, looking around just as the rest of them were, but with a much sadder expression. Happy memories, all snuffed out by time and tragedy.

“Look,” El heard Erik from somewhere behind him, “are you going to tell us who you are, or what?”

Rab took a deep breath and looked up at the castle, what remained of it slowly crumbling with the passing of time. “I’d already given up most of my duties by then… spent most of my days in the city, enjoying my retirement. Och, what nice days those were…” His voice changed, going from fond to heartbroken in an instant. Hardly more than a rough whisper, he said, “Then the monsters came, and I lost everything. When I was your age, laddie, this was the finest city you could ever hope to see, and look at it now. One night. Just one single night, and it was all gone.”

El almost spoke. He almost had something to say. Something to comfort the old man, an apology,  _ anything _ , but before he could, Rab was speaking again. His voice much more normal, but strained,

“Ach, just listen to me blathering on. I wanted to show you something, didn’t I, it’s just right here, come on.”

Just around a corner, sitting in the last shade of the day, a tombstone stood against a wall.

It was rough, cut from what looked like the same stone as the buildings around.

The engraving was somewhat messy - but El couldn’t read it all around Rab, anyway.

“This is… somebody’s grave?” Veronica said, peering around Rab to try to read the inscription.

“Aye.” Rab said softly, “this is where King Irwin and Queen Elenor of Dundrasil are buried.”

“ _ Oh _ ,” Sylv gasped, a hand over their mouth, looking quickly between El and Rab, “you… you mean-“

Rab looked back at them all, and pressed a hand against the cold stone. “Yes. This is your parent’s grave, laddie. The grave of my daughter, and my son-in-law.”

Something from Erik. Something torn between hope and surprise. But  _ hope,  _ all for El. “Wait, that would mean… you’re his grandfather!”

“These two fine young souls died, and yet this worn old man managed to survive. I came to believe there must have been a reason for that. That someone up there had a purpose in mind for me.” Rab turned from the grave, and took a step towards El.

It was everything he could do not to move backwards.

_ Grandfather? _

“But…” El began, “you’re…”  _ not like me.  _ El stopped, and tried again. “My parents- they, were they-“  _ mumbling like an idiot _ .

Rab seemed to understand nonetheless. “Nay,” he shook his head sadly, still looking on at the gravestone. “Elenor and Irwin were as human as they came.” A wry chuckle, “ye gave us all quite the fright, popping out like that.”

A rotten feeling settled in El’s stomach. 

This wasn’t right.

None of this was right.

How could he  _ be  _ this way? His parents, his family-

Rab gestured for El to join him in front of the grave. 

El didn’t want to. He didn’t know what to do-

But a less-than-gentle shove from Veronica had him moving forward, and just as everyone around him, he clasped his hands together in prayer.

A prayer he didn’t know how to make.

“But they loved you all the same. Never thought twice about it. I’m sorry, so, so sorry ye had to grow up without them.”

El saw the tears begin to fall.

He didn’t know this man. Blood relation or not, Chalky was his grandfather. Amber was his mother. Gemma was his sister- but, just now, seeing the old man, just as lost and alone as he was, they were the same.

Perhaps, just perhaps, he could have family again.

El listened with half an ear as Rab explained what he’d discovered, what he’d done in all the years he’d been on the road.

“Ye’re alive, Elwood. Against all the odds, and now ye’re back home.“

“What?” El asked before the name even truly registered in his mind.

Rab stopped, his brows creasing. “I never did ask, did I? Ye parents named ye Elwood, but I suppose whoever brought you up wouldn’t had known that.”

_ Elwood _ . El didn’t say it aloud, but even so it felt wrong to hear, to think. His name was just El. Simple. Easy. What his mum had given him, what Chalky had named him.

Though… if El came from what the old and faded letter had meant to say, then he was still carrying the name his Dundrasilian parents had given him, just in a shorter form.

“No.” El said simply, “My name is El. It’s just El.”

“El, then.” Rab said simply. As if it was that simple. As if his name didn’t matter- “I’ve got one last favor to ask you.”

~~

_ Royal family. _

_ Rituals. _

_ Souls of the departed. _

_ Taken by monsters. _

Everything felt like a blur.

The edges of different moments that should’ve been clear felt blurred as if a painter had taken a brush to them.

El didn’t know what to do for his grandfather.

He didn’t know what he  _ could _ do.

Even as his friends departed, leaving El and his family to grieve, he didn’t feel like he belonged here.

He should be with Erik and everyone, leaving Rab and Jade to grieve in peace.

Speaking of Jade-

Why was she on the sidelines? 

Shouldn’t she be here with them?

He saw her leave, and with a glance at his grandfather, still staring up at Yggdrasil, El’s letter still held gently in his hands, El turned to follow.

El followed just slightly behind as he noticed Jade leave.

He didn’t know what compelled him to follow.

Maybe it was how she looked on as Rab cried.

Like she wanted to as well, but wouldn’t let herself.

Jade stopped in the middle of the path, and looked up to the night sky.

“Lady Elenor…” Just above a whisper.

A twig snapped beneath El’s boot, and Jade whipped around to see him, wiping tears from her eyes as quickly as she could.

“You weren’t supposed to see that.” She looked stern, but her voice was soft. “I was just thinking about Lady Elenor… I mean, your mother.” Jade looked at the ground for a moment, before smiling back up at El. “Why don’t we go for a walk? We’ll meet back up with your friends back down at the bottom of the mountain.”

She waited for El to meet her, and then continued her pace.

She wanted to say something, didn’t bother trying to hide it, so El only waited. Quietly, patiently, as she chose her words.

“My mother was a sickly soul, by all accounts. She died not long after I was born.” Jade held her hands together, and looked at El. “Lady Elenor was the only real mother I ever knew… I spent a lot of time in Dundrasil, you see. She read me stories, played with me, took me for walks… I loved her so much.” She smiled softly. “I was one of the first people she told when she found out she was pregnant. She was so happy… and I was, too. I couldn’t wait to meet my baby brother. I had plans, you know. I was going to be the best big sister ever. And then…”

Slowly, rain began to fall. Picking up steadily.

But Jade only held a hand out to the sky. “I was raining like this the last time I saw her. I can’t believe it’s been so long…”

Light caught El’s eye the same moment it did hers.

Torches, and the glint of metal.

“Up there… Heliodor!” Jade grabbed El by the wrist, and dragged him into the cover of the stone cliff face. “Something tells me they’re looking for you. Come on, we need to get back to the others.”

The two of them tried to stick to the shadows, to the cover of the overgrown plant life, but the way they’d come from was already crawling with guards.

“Where are the ones from the altar?” One of them asked.

“No sign of them.” The second answered, and El breathed a sigh of relief. Erik was safe.

“I-it’s him!” El spun around in time to look into the helmet of another. “H-he’s ‘ere! The darkspawn is over ‘ere!”

In moments, they were surrounded. “What do we do with the girl?”

“Hendrick only said to take the darkspawn alive… didn’t say anything about someone foolish enough to join him.”

“Oh, don’t you dare.”

In a span of only a few moments, Jade had knocked three of the four soldiers down, leaving only one left, who immediately showed his true colors, running for Hendrick like a child running for its mother.

Jade swore under her breath. “Come on, we’ll head around the mountain. If we’re fast we should be able to meet with the others before he gets back.”

“I can-“ El started to offer to change, he could fly them away, easy, but before he could offer, Jade had his wrist in her hand again, dragging him at a full pelt down the pathway.

  
  


El fell to the ground, and glanced over his shoulder at the drop below.

It was long enough.

He could make it.

He just needed a clear shot to get Jade as well-

“You will evade me no longer, darkspawn. The chase ends here.” Hendrick raised his sword high above his head.

“Hendrick!” Jade screamed, “Don't you dare!”

Hendrick nearly dropped his sword when he spotted Jade.

“Surely not… Princess Jade?”

This was El’s chance. He pushed up against the rock, ready to change, when he felt the stone shift beneath him, before the edge of the cliff fell away entirely.

“ _ No! _ ” He heard Jade scream.

Halfway down between the cliff and the rushing river, El took his dragon form, and snatched Jade from the air.

He felt Hendrick’s eyes on him as he flew upstream.

~~

El landed them on a small ledge higher up the mountain, setting Jade down gently before testing his own weight on the rock.

There was an overhang that could provide them with some shelter from the misty rain, even if it wasn’t as good as a cave or cabin would be.

“Thank you,” Jade said as she sat down. “I had no idea you could-“ she stared for a moment. “We’ll I suppose there’s more I don’t know about you than I do. I’m sorry for jumping. I panicked.”

El nodded his head, and laid down around her. Less so because he wants to be in contact- and more so that he can speak. 

_ You and Rab,  _ El begins, and even as Jade startles, he continues on without a hitch,  _ you both act as if I’ve suffered the same losses you both have. And, I suppose that is true. But… I never knew the King and Queen. Maybe I’m wrong for not feeling grief, but I do not mourn them. I don’t mourn for the life I could’ve lived. _

“Elw-“ Jade begins, not even a word finished and her tone already condescending.

_ My name is El. Just El. _

She laughed, short and humorlessly. “It’s a simple name, for someone of your standing.”

_ I’m a farm boy from Cobblestone, on the run from the King. I have no social standing.  _ El hoped she could hear that he wasn’t upset. _ I grew up fine. I had a family. I had a mother, a sister, and a grandfather. I had my whole village. I was  _ happy _. _

El took a moment to think his words over, to try and phrase the rest of it, and Jade remained quiet this time. She waited for him.

_ Even now I’m not miserable.  _ El said, and was surprised to find it to be true.  _ I’ve lost my home- but I have hope that my family is alive, and I’ve found you and Rab. I’m not alone.  _ His mind flashed images, of bright blues, the adrenaline of the chase, the smell of saltwater and the night air, of a promise forged. No, he was certainly not alone. El had his team. El had Erik. His Keeper. He rested his head down over his forelegs, and looked out across the river channel, watching the rain beat down on the rock. He sighed, a dark puff of smoke rising in the air around them.  _ I’m getting to see the world, I’ve got something to strive towards. That’s not something I thought I would ever have. _

Jade didn’t respond right away, and El didn’t have any more to say just yet.

The rain continued to beat down around them, dripping over their meager shelter, and running in streams down to the river below.

Jade shivered in the cold.

Maybe he should’ve let her light a fire. Maybe it wasn’t too late- but… no. It was still too risky. They may as well be lighting a signal fire for Hendrick to follow.

Instead…

El stretched out a wing, and let it settle over Jade.

It was a very… familiar gesture.

By now lending a wing to Erik was normal. Their closeness wasn’t something he even stopped to consider. 

But this woman… They weren’t strangers, but she’d built an image of him in her head, and it was an image he was not fulfilling.

Even if before she felt as if she knew him, by now she had probably realized that she didn’t, actually.

She traced the long scar on his wing with one finger.

“Someone’s hurt you.” 

She hadn’t yet seen the scar that wound it’s way over his side.

She’d never seen the arrow wound, or the welt around his throat.

_ Jasper _ . El explained, decidedly not looking at the scar.  _ They did it to keep me from escaping _ .

“I see.” Jade took her hand away. “I… I’m not sure what to say. All this trouble… The truth is, why I jumped after you, I… I couldn’t have forgiven myself for losing you again.”

_ Again? _

“I know Rab must’ve told you about your mother. That she… that she died to save you and the princess of Heliodor. I know you’ve likely figured it out yourself by now, but I was that princess.” Jade leaned back against him, and drew her legs in close to her chest. “She died to save me, so that I could save you.

“That night, we both ran from the castle, but the monsters were too fast. She handed you to me, and left to distract them. She died to save us, and she trusted me to keep you safe, and yet I managed to lose you to the river. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished it was you that Rab fished out of there, and not me.”

El listened silently, letting the girl that would’ve been his sister another live speak. To air her grief.

To think this is how she finally meets her little brother.

When she quieted, and the rain began to let up, they made their way back to Dundrasil.

~~

The sky was dark, and the fire had burned down to nothing but embers and soot.

What a day… El and Jade vanished right as Helidor attacked again, and gone for so long that Erik had been sure he’d have a heart attack from worry… 

But they also had a plan, now. A goal at long last.

The orbs, Yggdrasil, and Mordegon. 

Two new allies as well.

_ El’s family _ .

Erik was happy for him, truly. He hadn’t lost everything.

But now, sitting up alone at night, Erik missed his own more than ever.

Everyone had gone to sleep by now.

Except…

_ Can we talk?  _ El asked silently, not breaking the quiet peace of the night.

_ Of course.  _ Erik said immediately,  _ here? _

_ Don’t want to wake anyone.  _ El said, getting to his feet as quietly as he could, and extended a hand to help Erik up.  _ By the river? It isn’t far, we'd be able to hear if someone wakes up and misses us.  _

Erik accepted his hand, but El didn’t let go when he was up, and he didn’t let go as he led Erik away from camp.

The tree line isn’t far from where they’d set up their makeshift camp, but as they crossed it’s threshold, looking around carefully for any late-night travelers or soldiers left over from the day’s attack, everything changed, in more than one way.

The light of the full moon lit up the world around them in shades of silver and blue. 

Erik could now make out the tension holding El together.

He could feel it, barely restrained, in the hand that held his own.

The strip of bare grass gave way to a pebble covered river shore. 

The only sounds to be heard was that of wind in the grass, and the water trickling through its bed.

El didn’t immediately speak.

Erik felt something from him, some whirlwind he tried to decipher.

Nervousness. Apprehension.  _ Terror _ .

It all screamed in the back of his mind. Muted, but still there.

Erik wasn’t sure how El could detect his own overflowing concern over all that.

El still didn’t let go of Erik’s hand.

“You said I could tell you what happened. In Octogonia, I mean. When I’m ready.”

_ Oh _ . “Yeah,” Erik said on a breath, “whenever you’re ready to talk about it.”

El gave a short nod. “I- I think I’m ready, now.”

That’s why he wanted to leave camp.

“It- the night before Vince attacked me- when I took him home after he collapsed, he saw my wings. He realized it wasn’t a costume.” El didn’t look up to see Erik’s eyes, and kept his own trained on the swirl of the river current. “I didn’t mean to show him. It was an accident. You know how they move when I’m startled, or if I’m just not thinking about them? I don’t always control them. You know that, I just- I wasn’t expecting him to turn around-“

“Hey, it’s okay.” Erik said, trying to keep his voice soft, but still loud enough to cut through El’s spiraling thoughts. “I get it, it’s okay.”

Erik almost reminded El that he only had to tell him when he was really ready, or, maybe just say he doesn’t have to tell him at all. But then again, he doesn’t want to discourage him from speaking up if he really is ready, either.

“H-he saw my wings.” El said again. “And he knew that they were a part of me. I didn’t tell him much. Not about the Luminary, or who I am, but… just that that’s- that  _ this _ , is how I am.”

Erik wraps his arm around El’s shoulders. It’s a little difficult to do, to a person with great big wings, and especially when said person with great big wings is upset, but Erik knows now that touch brings a great deal of comfort for El, and it is easier this time than it was in Cobblestone.

“When I went with him the second time… The night you all fought him… I’d only wanted to help him. But the next thing I knew he’d smashed a bottle over my head.”

“I’m sorry, Erik. I should’ve told you. I broke our promise.”

Erik hears pebbles being moved around, and a glance over his shoulder tells him that it’s El’s tail moving them around as it moves back and forth behind them in an agitated manner.

Erik held him close like he had only two nights before, and listened. “Don’t worry. I forgive you.”

Such an easy thing to give.

And such a hard thing to earn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playing the game, I absolutely hated that nothing happened to Vince.  
> I mean come on he ate people!
> 
> Though I did think it was really funny. When I saw him I just knew he was the villain, and then I was all “so he’s doping? That’s the conflict? Got some true high fantasy over here, y’all.”


	7. Familiarity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michelle and Kainoa had shown El what would be in store for them both if he tried to pursue this path, as two people separated by a gap in species.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a shorter chapter today, but with it I’ve just hit 50,000 words!!  
> This is so much more than I expected when I first sat down to write, and I’m so happy that you’re all enjoying it!

Just how much time had passed since El had left the village?

How many days had Amber spent trapped below the castle?

It all seemed to blur together.

She knew that only days had passed since that knight had come to give her news about her son, but it had stretched out to fill what felt like an eternity.

Those short visits had been keeping her sane, keeping her focused. Her son was out there, and he was safe, and he would be coming back, Amber knew.

El wouldn’t abandon them.

Not if he had any choice.

But Amber also knew what he was up against. 

With the entire kingdom of Heliodor at his heels, how was he supposed to fight back?

How long before he had no choice but to hide, how long before the knight came back, just to tell Amber that El was no more?

“Amber?” Gemma caught her attention from the cell across from hers, “I can hear ya worryin’ all the way over here. He’ll be alright, ya hear? Didn’t last time he tell us that El’s not alone? He’s got help.”

Amber appreciated what the girl was trying to do, she really did. But it all felt so  _ empty _ .

How could he be alright? Why had she even let him go?

No one ever spoke about it, but El had been safe in Cobblestone. Hidden away from the outside world, from people afraid of what was different, from people who wouldn’t think twice about using her son as a spectacle for crowds to gawk at.

She’d let her dear son leave, and it was as if every fear she’d ever had came true.

_ Darkspawn _ . As if El could ever be anything so horrible. He was the Luminary, for the goddess’s sake!

Was that so unbelievable, just because of a pair of wings? 

“I know, Gemma.” Amber said, “You know as well as I that boy doesn’t let anything slow him down.”

Gemma brightened. “Sure do! Say, do ya remember the time he went off followin’ that deer track on his own? Vanished for just long enough for us to put together a search party before he turned back up, filthy and spittin’ mad, without anythin’ to show for it?”

Amber put on a smile and listened, letting Gemma’s rambling stories ease the fear in her heart.

This was El they were talking about. He’d make it through this just fine, just as he had everything else until now.

She remembered that day, he’d been so young then. He still was, but back then…

His wings were just barely big enough to carry him, and he’d only just learned to change his shape. What had possessed him to go on a hunt alone, Amber had no idea.

She’d been so very worried, hardly sleeping the night he had gone, just waiting by the door with a lantern, just in case.

When he came back slicked with mud, a goose egg on his forehead so big it could’ve been a third horn, red-faced and empty handed… She’d been too relieved to be angry with him.

Amber had no lantern to light his way home with, now. 

No home for him to come back to, either.

But she had to have faith he’d still find his way back to her.

He was the Luminary, after all. He had the grace of the goddess on his side.

~~

The pain pattered down steadily over the ship deck, and over his shoulders.

It was cold.

The rain was icy from the late autumn skies.

They’d been sailing for so long, now.

Nearly a month was taken from them for the trip from Dundrasil, to Puerto Valor, and then to and from Lonalulu and the Strand.

And what did they have to show for it?

El’s hair was plastered to his neck, his bangs sticking to the sides of his face as the rain continued.

He was freezing.

He didn’t shiver.

He wasn’t built to maintain his own body temperature. Now that winter had begun to smother the flame inside of him, if he wanted warmth, he’d have to go find it himself.

But he didn’t want to.

El just remained where he was, holding to the banister, and looking out into the dark waves.

There was no foam on the surface waters.

Not any longer.

Nothing remained of her, aside from the veil they’d left in the cabin, aside from the harp El had still yet to use.

He was still in shock, still reeling from what had happened. From what he did.

And, from what it meant.

For the world, and himself, personally.

For the world, it told El that he wasn’t enough.

He couldn’t save the world.

He couldn’t save his own village.

He couldn’t even save one mermaid.

He was no Luminary.

He was just some cursed crossbreed with an unfortunate birthmark.

Why Yggdrasil would ever choose someone like him, El didn’t know.

He heard the creak of the cabin door, but heard no footsteps.

Even if Erik didn’t walk silently, he doubted he would be able to hear them over the torrent of rain, anyway.

_ Come inside, El. _

El could feel his concern as clearly as if it was his own.

What it meant to El personally, was much more selfish.

The warmth of the sun spread inside him.

Inside them both.

There was no distinction between the two feelings, no defined edges that told El that this was his own feeling, or that this was Erik’s.

It was seamless between them both.

It was enough to replace El’s dimmed flames. Whether he intended to or not, it warmed him from inside, like basking in the sun.

But Erik had not acted on it, and El didn’t know how.

And even if he did… 

Michelle and Kainoa had shown El what would be in store for them both if he tried to pursue this path, as two people separated by a gap in species.

_ I’m fine here. _ El answered, knowing that Erik was feeling the crushing guilt, feeling the thick fog that had settled in his ribs, threatening to choke out the warmth. He couldn’t very well pretend he was okay when Erik knew very well that he wasn’t, that he hadn’t been for a while.

Maybe El should apologize.

When their bond first appeared, it was… Remarkable.

It was an instant trust, an instant companionship.

A relationship on equal footing, that sprung up in the night for them both.

They had each other.

How could you look into someone’s mind, feel exactly what they felt, spend all your time with them, and not come to know each other more than anyone else?

You couldn’t.

Which is perhaps exactly why they’d come to love each other.

But neither ever asked for it.

They never made a deal to become this way.

Erik never asked to have El in his head.

He never asked to have a dragon. To become a Keeper.

El couldn’t help but wonder if Erik resented him.

If he was looking forward to when their journey was done, so they could part ways, and their bond could diminish. 

Erik came closer.

Moved to the railing next to El, and wrapped a hand around El’s arm.

Laid his head on El’s shoulder.

El wanted to cry.

But the goddess knows he’s done enough of that, lately.

Always so careful of his horns, El let his own head rest gently on Erik’s.

He could have this much, couldn’t he?

Just a moment.

El stretched out a wing to shelter Erik. Not that it did much to prevent the already drenched man from the pelting rain and winds, but it was the thought that counted, right?

Erik laughed. Bright and beautiful. “You dumbass. Come on, before we catch our deaths out here.”

El let Erik detangle himself, and let Erik lead him back inside.

It didn’t end up taking very long at all for Erik to come to the realization that his feelings were not, in fact, unrequited. 

Everything he felt from El was still separate from what he felt, even if they were experiencing the same emotion, divided by an intangible yet sturdy barrier.

As if El’s emotions were on the other side of a window, and Erik could look through and see how he felt.

But somehow, this was different.

The window was open, for this one feeling.

There was no seam where Erik’s love ended and El’s began. It existed in them both, identically, simultaneously.

And yet, even knowing all that, knowing that any advances that Erik tried to make would most likely be accepted, he found himself stranded between what he wanted to do, and what he thought he should do.

Erik wanted to talk to El.

They both knew how the other felt, but they still would be better off talking than making any assumptions.

But Erik hadn’t gotten the chance.

He wasn’t going to try and broach such a subject right after everything that had happened to El while he was underground.

Not when he’d just found his birth family, against all the odds.

And then, not after finding Michelle.

The back and forth between the Strand and Lonalulu had been tedious.

Erik had spent most of the journey snappy and frustrated, feeling like El’s good heart had put their true goal on hold, a magic harp and magic orb at the end or not.

Then, she died.

A whole half-century after her love, looking no older than his grandson did.

_ Parent to child _ . Serena had said before that the dragon in the care of a keeper would be passed down through the generations.

Dragons must live for hundreds of years, perhaps as long as the merpeople did.

El seemed to be the age he appeared, young and fairly naïve, but that didn’t mean very much. He had so many other dragon attributes, even beyond his appearance.

Who was to say that El wouldn’t live long past Erik’s death?

Was he even prepared to amount to what would only be but a splash in the bucket of El’s long life?

Would it be fair to El, to let him love Erik, only to leave him behind and alone, with still decades upon decades left to live, without Erik, with a broken bond?

Michelle hadn’t looked much older than Erik did.

And she’d been there, waiting at the strand for over fifty years just sitting and waiting for a man that never came back.

As if the years felt only like days.

Would El end up like that? Sat on Erik’s grave until he withered away? Or until he couldn’t stand the loss anymore?

El had been right there, when she’d thrown herself into the sea.

Powerless to stop her from fading away.

He’d broken down, after that.

Erik should’ve been there with him. He’d been distracted by the luau, by all the festivities.

He’d hardly noticed El had gone until the bright white-hot spark of shock had sent itself back down to Erik.

Erik held him through that night.

How many times would he have to be El’s rock, before he couldn’t take it anymore?

Each time, each break wore cracks in Erik’s own facade.

He was grieving, too.

And Erik couldn’t show it. Couldn’t begin to explain, or confess anything about it. It hurt so very, very much, and El must feel it, and yet…

The small room they both shared was small.

One bed, a small table, a water basin, and a lantern hanging from a hook.

It was cramped and stuffy. The air was stale and the room too hot for comfort.

Even so, after El toweled off the last of the rain, and Erik had laid out his tunic to dry, they climbed into bed together.They’d begun sleeping this way every night, after Octogonia.

It was still awkward and a little cumbersome, trying to find a way to hold his dragon while keeping his eyes out of horn range (that black eye had driven him crazy for days) and to find a good way to wrap his arm around him without hitting a wing-

El was holding him, this time.

Erik was the one being bundled close this time, his nose in the crook of El’s neck, two strong arms wrapped around his back, and El’s nose buried in his hair.

_ I know something is wrong _ . El said, and Erik felt his tail come to rest around his ankle.  _ You don’t have to tell me now. But I’ll be here when you’re ready, just as you are for me. _

The sunlight was blinding, casting out everything else just to make room for the way it grew.

Erik laid a hand onto El’s chest, and he could swear he could feel it’s heat against his palm. 

They never slept with any blankets. El’s warmth was enough.

Maybe Erik should come clean.

He had no reason to hide. Not from El.

All his barriers, every single wall he’d put up since he’d left Sniflheim was coming down, brick by brick.

What was he doing?

Laying in the arms of the man he loved, the feelings tangible and concrete, but doing nothing about it?

No.

Not yet.

They had places to be, Orbs to find, and they were an ocean away from where Erik’s own secrets lay. If Erik told him now, explained why exactly he decided to stick by the dragon’s side those few months ago, he had no doubts that El would turn this boat around and sail straight for Sniflheim.

Erik wanted to free Mia, to save her, do whatever it took to remove the curse - but things were different now.

As much as he loved his sister, as much as she deserved her freedom, as much as he hated himself for every additional second she spent in hell, she wasn’t their only priority. 

They had the entire world to save, now.

_ Not yet _ . Erik said,  _ someday _ .

And that was enough for El. He asked for nothing more, nothing more specific, asked for no promise.

He simply accepted his answer, and continued to hold Erik close.

El was like a furnace. His skin was feverish even though he was healthy, the fire that burned inside him heating him through.

But oddly enough, it didn’t bother Erik.

The heat of the desert scorched him, the summer months even in Heliodor kept him dizzy from their heat, but El’s Fire was comforting.

It made him feel safe.

It made him feel loved.

Held tight by his dragon, Erik drifted off into the easiest sleep he’d ever known.

So many nights recently, Erik had dreamed of being in the sky, seated atop a golden dragon, pink dawn clouds floating around them.

He always felt safe, even at the high altitudes, suspended above endless sea waters.

But dark storm clouds always appeared on the horizon line, lightning striking down around them before darkness overtook, and Erik woke to their cabin.

This time, the storm clouds came sooner.

He couldn’t have been flying more than a few minutes before Erik heard the rumble of thunder, and lightning began to strike down.

Black consumed Erik’s vision, but he did not wake.

The wind ceased, the thunder grew quiet, and Erik no could no longer feel El below him.

He was alone.

_ El? _

Dread pooled in Erik’s gut.

So many nights, so many times the dream remained the same.

“El?” Erik called again, aloud. Just in case anyone could hear him.

_ Poor child. Left all alone. Nothing to your name. _

The voice rang inside Erik’s head, like El’s would, but Erik knew his voice. He would always recognize it, and this was not El. 

El would never sound so cruel.

A cold shiver ran down his spine.

His pulse rang loud in his ears as he waited for the voice to speak again.

Something cold brushed his cheek.

Erik jerked back, hand rushing to his hip to grasp the hilt of his knife, but he found only empty air.

_ This was just a dream. _

Fingers around his arm.

_ Only a dream. _

Cold like a corpse.

_ It couldn’t hurt him. _

Another hand slapped over his mouth and he was pulled back into the darkness before he could so much as scream.

Erik woke with a start in a cold sweat, only narrowly avoiding voicing the fear from his nightmare.

The room was pitch black, the fire from the lantern having burned out hours ago.

A hand on his shoulder.

Erik almost tried to move away, but the hand was warm. Another wrapped around his middle, and El’s chin came to rest on Erik’s other shoulder, tilted oddly to keep his horn away.

“Erik?” His voice was muted by sleep. “You alright?”

Erik tried to calm his fluttering heart. To steady his breathing. “Yeah,” he answered, “yeah. Just- just a nightmare.”

El hummed his response, already half-asleep again. “D’you need to talk about it?”

Erik closed his eyes, as if he would see anything different. “No.” Erik said, “It wasn’t that bad.” 

El murmured something Erik couldn’t make out, and pressed a short kiss to his cheek before laying back down.

Erik’s poor heart couldn’t take the whiplash, doing a funny sort of fluttering that in any other situation would’ve made him seriously consider seeing a healer.

Had El realized what he’d done?

Had any conscious thought gone into the action, or had he just done what had felt right?

Would there have even been a difference?

Erik sighed, and held his face in his hands.

He wasn’t going to be able to sleep after that.

Carefully, Erik removed the tail that had wrapped around his ankle.

El slept like the dead. It was a wonder Erik’s nightmare had woken him at all.

He pulled his trousers on, grabbed his shoes and pulled on his thankfully dry tunic, and did his best to find the door in the pitch black.

He couldn’t breathe in here.

The hall below deck was thankfully still lit, so Erik was able to make his way above in complete silence. 

The rain had stopped at some point in the night, and the skies ahead were empty of clouds, and awash with pink and orange pre-dawn light.

The sway of the ship, the sudden ice of the air, and the sounds of the waves and calling seabirds did more than Erik expected to calm his quaking nerves.

If he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend that he was still in Sniflheim.

That nothing had ever happened.

He could hear sea shanties and the sound of a busy ship, full of people all with jobs to do.

But as his eyes opened he knew it wasn’t real, that it wouldn’t ever be real again.

Nothing was the same. The songs he remembered were faded, there was someone missing.

The differences kept him above water.

He was putting things right, with every mile they sailed, with every day he stayed with the Luminary.

Things were better, in some ways.

Erik wasn’t hungry anymore.

He wasn’t hurting.

He was free.

All things he couldn’t say the same for her, but someday.

Someday soon, maybe he could share it all.

“A coin for your thoughts?” Sylvando’s voice shook Erik from his train of thought, and he turned to see them bundled up warm in a fluffy robe.

“You’d be overpaying.” Erik said, looking back out at sea. “Wasn’t thinking about much.”

Sylv leaned over the banister, a mug of something hot in their hands. “I’m not used to seeing anyone else up so early. Trouble sleeping?”

“No,” Erik lies, “I just managed to get away from El this morning. I’m not normally one to sleep in.”

Sylv laughed loudly, as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “I thought I’d pegged the boy right as an octopus. Always all over you, that one.”

“An… octopus?”

“Oh, you know! A big hugger.” Sylv explains, “a cuddler.”

Erik could say that he was normally the one that would be described as such, but it wasn’t really any of Sylv’s business. So, he only nods and says nothing.

A few moments pass in silence.

The crash of the water against the boat and the smell of sea salt in the air.

Erik doesn’t know how something can be both so very familiar, so very comforting, and yet so depressing at the same time.

It’ll be hours yet before everyone is awake and active.

Erik can see a glow of golden light just over the horizon.

That would be where they’re supposed to play the harp, wouldn’t it?

Erik wondered if El would play it today.

They’d find out soon enough.

Erik caught Slyv looking at him, like he was trying to figure out a puzzle.

“I just can’t seem to figure the two of you out.” They said, “You’re both  _ painfully  _ obvious, you know. Pining away as if you two don’t already act like a couple on honeymoon.”

Erik grimaced. The last thing he needed was other people’s input and theories headed his way- let alone-

“I’m not going to pry.” Sylv said, and Erik got the distinct impression that the exact opposite was true. “You don’t have to answer, but what is the problem, darling?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Erik said, looking away.

“Oh, pish!” Sylv pushed off the banister to turn to Erik, “I’m a jester, not a fool. You don’t have to tell me, but you do not lie to me.” They poked one very well-manicured finger to Erik’s chest. 

He could refuse. Erik certainly didn’t need to add any more fire to whatever rumor was clearly going around but…

He didn’t think Sylvando wanted to know just to know. They were concerned for him. Erik knew he was a disappointment, but he didn’t want to upset anyone.

So Erik groaned and turned back to the sea to get away from that  _ look _ .

“It’s a lot of things, I guess.” Erik said, “The whole…” He gestured vaguely, unsure of how to explain the issue with the bond. “Dragon thing, for one.”

“Now there’s no need for that.” Sylv interrupted, “El is a fine young man, dragon bits or not. You should-“

“That’s not what I mean.” Erik said, “I don’t care about the tail or the horns or whatever he’s got, it’s… You were there, when Veronica explained what Keepers are. The whole bond thing, it’s a lot. I can feel everything he feels, he can all but read my mind. He...” Erik paused. He didn’t know if he was ready to say it out loud or not. “He loves me. I know he does, because I can feel it, and I know he knows I love him.”

“So you’re overwhelmed.” They said it like a statement, and not a question. Brought no attention to his sudden confession.

They weren’t wrong.

“Yeah.” Erik said shortly. Overwhelmed just about covered it. “Then… Then there’s what happened in Lonalulu.” Erik picked at the chipping paint on the rail. “With Michelle.” Erik didn’t specify what. Everything about the events between meeting her and losing her…

“You and El are in a very different position than she was.” Sylv said, staring off into the waves, thinking carefully, “There is no bad blood between you and he, you aren’t separated by the land and sea.”

There wasn’t anything separating them except for each other, and even then… “Sure feels like it.”

“I know it feels like I can’t possibly understand what all you boys are going through,” Sylvando said, “And I’m sure I don’t. But I don’t want to see you two making yourselves miserable over something when you don’t have to be. What’s really stopping you?”

Fear, plain and simple.

He was afraid of being left alone.

He was afraid of being known.

Erik was afraid of letting El in. Even though there was hardly anything left that he didn’t know, that he didn’t already understand, Erik was scared there would be something buried so deep that he’d forgotten about it, something that El would hate him for.

It was unreasonable, yes. He was perfectly aware, but it didn’t stop him from being scared.

And… He was afraid for El.

“Don’t let this go on so long that you’ve missed the sail.” Sylvando said to him, lowering their voice as the door to the cabin opened, and their team began to mill about. “No matter what it is that’s scaring you, don’t let it stop you from being happy. Would you rather try and fail, or never try, and wonder forever if you’ve missed out on something lovely?”

Sylv was speaking from experience, Erik could hear it in their voice… and they were right.

He just needed to suck it up and talk to El.

“Sylv-“

Before Erik could thank his companion, Sylvando had turned to their group, clapping their hands together, “Good morning, everyone! Jade, dear, could you go and wake our fearless leader? We’ve got a harp to play and a ship to sink!”

“I wish you wouldn’t say that,” Jade complained, but still got up to go and wake El, “Go ahead and get ready, I don’t know how long it’ll take to drag him up.”

“Just pull his tail,” Erik suggested, “Always works for me.” Jade sent him an unimpressed look, but didn’t make any point about what he said.

Hopefully she’d take his advice. It really did work, and she  _ did  _ have the reflexes to dodge the wings that always flared out.

About a half-hour later, El up and only  _ slightly  _ grumpy from his rude awakening, El played the harp.

He’d claimed to have never touched an instrument before, but the notes came through clear and precise, wrapping their ship in a bubble of air, and bringing them down smoothly to the depths of the ocean.

Erik stood at El’s side as the surface went out of reach, and the bright and clear water surrounded them on all sides.

Schools of shimmering scales fish swam around them, guiding their pearl of air to the seabed.

When the bottom of their ship made contact, Erik walked to the edge, reaching out to touch the shimmering bubble. 

Through the membrane he could feel the cold ocean water, and yet his hand came back dry.

“Be careful, laddie!” Rab warned him, “You don’t know how this works.”

“We’ll have to figure it out if we want to see the Queen. El, give me a hand?”

_ What do you need? _

“Think you could fly me down there? You and I could have a look around-“

“You think we’re going to let you two go off on your own?” Veronica butted in, “We’re all here, might as well all go, safety in numbers and all that.”

Jade stepped forward, “She’s right. We go as a team or not at all.”

It didn’t take long to get everyone down, or to even work up the courage to leave their little safety bubble, but it did take more than a few moments to realize that they were still safe, and still underwater. 

There was no pressure on Erik’s chest as if he were really swimming, and he didn’t find saltwater stinging his eyes or nose.

They were breathing, and their feet remained on the ground, their gravity intact as if they were still on land.

Of all the nightmares Erik had suffered through from the Chief’s threats of cinderblock shoes and being weighed down through the water, Erik never actually expected to experience the seafloor. 

“Over there, there’s a tunnel.” Jade pointed out, “Only way out of here. Shall we move on?”

The moment the tunnel ended, everything changed.

The land of Nautica, a city built into a coral reef and on the seabed. Buildings shaped like giant shells, conches and cowries all stood tall, winding around stone, mermaids, sea turtles, sharks, and sea creatures Erik couldn’t put a name to all swam through their daily lives, unknown to all that lived above.

“Crivvens!” Rab grinned widely at the otherworldly scene before them, “A veritable paradise under the sea.”

“Don’t get distracted.” Jade said, catching him staring at a mermaid swimming overhead. “We’re here for a reason. We need to see the Queen, find the pearl, and tell her about Michelle.” She caught El’s eye, who nodded.

“Up there,” Serena pointed to the tallest seashell building highest up the slope. “I bet that’s the castle.” It was hard to see from this distance, but there were two mermaids, tritons in hand. Guards, perhaps?

“Let’s get moving,” Erik said, starting up the path. “The sooner we find out if this pearl is the real deal or not, the better. Something about this place gives me the creeps.”

Veronica snorted at him, “You’ve said that about nearly every town we’ve come across. Hardly means anything anymore.”

Erik ignored her, letting their group pass on ahead as he waited for El to catch up. 

Magical bubble of safety or not, wings just weren’t very hydrodynamic.

“You good?” Erik asked as they both started up the slope, much further behind their companions. He was looking around, just as distracted as the rest of them, but the feeling Erik was getting from him was different. 

“There’s something… Familiar about this place.” El said, “I don’t recognize any of it, but it just… Feels odd.”

Erik wasn’t picking up on any of that. But there was an uneasy feeling in his gut that he had attributed to his own personal fears, but if El was feeling it too… 

They were all receiving stares from the mermaids,  _ except  _ for El. 

Maybe the feeling wasn’t misplaced.

Their team had already been ushered inside when they made it to the top, but the guards took only one look at them before taking their hands and guiding them to the throne room.

A mermaid, blonde hair and an iridescent white fin sat in a large oyster shell throne.

“I welcome you to Nautica, the land beneath the waves.” She greeted them, “What brings you, dragon Prince of Dundrasil, down to these coral caves?”

“Wait, how do you know who he is?” Erik asked, standing close. He didn’t feel any sense of foreboding about the Queen, or anyone in the city for that matter, but you couldn’t ever be too careful, right?

“I have a second sight, just as you, that touches every quarter, by which I keep abreast of the news above the water. Of doomed love between man and magic, let us later speak. First, allow me to present the item that you seek.” With a raise of her hand, another mermaid came forth, carefully cradling a glowing green sphere.

Queen Marina took it carefully, and raised it to the light.

“Behold, the shining sphere of green, the Orb you humans need. The treasures of the world above are marvelous indeed.” She held it out to El, who took it gratefully. 

“Consider this my thanks for what you did for dear Michelle. Pray take it, kindly travelers, and may it serve you well.”

“Thank you.” El breathed, taking in the shine, so very grateful this Orb was given so easily, “But, Michelle. She’s…” He trailed off, unsure of what to say.

“I witnessed the whole sorry tale, it always breaks my heart. The tragedy of man and mermaid doomed to live apart. But while the mermaid’s burden holds, such romances are blighted, and love between human and sea maiden fizzles, unrequited. The humans cannot help but seem such a fragile kind to we, who live for five hundred years and more beneath the sea.

“But though the flame of human life burns short, it burns so bright! You never cease to struggle, no - you push, you strive, you fight!” 

“And so, their kind admire our kind, but we admire in turn. It is the World Tree’s will that from each other, we learn. It was the World Tree’s will that brought Michelle and Kai together. I pray that in their next lives, they may stay that way forever.” The Queen smiled kindly at El. “But your kind once knew this as well, before the Dragonspawn fell. Just as my people live our lives under the waves, yours once ruled the sky, in days long gone by.”

“There were others like me?” El was listening closely, and Erik felt his heart skip a beat. Were there others out there somewhere for El to find?

“Yes, though it has been such a long while since your kind did visit our humble lifestyle. I know not how you came to be a dragon, as their days have come and gone.”

Damn these mermaids and their rhymes, turning every word into a riddle. Erik had hoped that Michelle had been an outlier, but it would seem that every mermaid shared her pattern of speech.

“So too was it the World Tree’s will that brought you here today, but now, dear Luminary, you must be on your way. So set sail on the tide of time, that flows ceaselessly on, and if Yggdrasil wills it, we shall meet again, anon. Remember, though the paths we walk are filled with twists and turns, all roads lead from the Tree of Life, and to the Tree they return.”

The Queen hit the end of her staff against the floor, and light shone down from high above.

“Wait-“ El forced out, “You know about people like me, please, I have so many questions.”

She smiled, “Questions that I could answer, but that I shall not. Let them spur you on your quest, to find your own plot.”

Erik watched El deflate, so close to having the truth, and denied it. Erik stepped forward, to argue for his case, but El’s voice stopped him.

_ It’s okay. _

“But, El-“

_ It’s okay.  _ His voice was firm, and he turned his back to the Queen, ready to leave. They had what they came for. The Orb is what mattered, not the answers he hadn’t even come looking for.

“Let’s get back to the ship.” El said, once they reached the rest, “We don’t know how long we have down here.” He sounded low, his disappointment still evident, but aside from a supportive hand on his arm from his grandfather, no one said anything,

No one knew what to say.

How do you comfort someone so confused? 

Erik did what he knew how, sticking close until they were back on the waves instead of below them, the sky turning dark, stars beginning to light up in the sky.

Time seemed so much shorter, under the water.

“We’ll chart a course for our next destination,” Sylvando was speaking to them all, but Erik wasn’t really listening. “Rab, you and Jade were talking about a town not far from here, weren’t you? Do you think that we’d find anything useful there?”

“Sylv-“ Erik interrupted, not meeting anyone else’s eyes, that were all suddenly on him. “Do, um... do you need El and I for this? Or do you mind if we duck out?”

Sylv was smiling bright at him, seeing through Erik immediately. “Oh, you two must be positively exhausted! Go, go on now and get some rest. We’ll sort out our next stop just fine on our own, don't you worry!”

Subtlety wasn’t something Sylvando excelled at, or even seems to have any passing interest in.

But Erik was still grateful, even as the tips of his ears turned red, and took El, poor confused El, by the hand and led him back to their room.

~~

“Hey, El?” Erik spoke low, his heart in his throat. 

He was going to say it.

Sylvando was right. It was better to at least  _ try- _

“Hm?” El hummed, lost in thought where he’d pillowed his head on Erik’s chest.

One last burst of anxiousness from Erik brought El back into full awareness. Concerned, he began to get up.

“It’s okay.” Erik said hurriedly, his hand in El’s hair staying firm. He couldn’t do this while looking El in the eye. “Just… give me a moment, okay?”

“...Okay.” Erik didn’t miss the hesitation. He just needed to spit it out-

“I know that you already know all this. I don’t know if it means anything to say now, but Sylv got in my head this morning. All this stuff about bonds and keepers and lifespans… I don’t want it to change anything.” El took Erik’s hand in his, a silent way to show he was listening. “I don’t know what’s going to happen when we get to Yggdrasil. I don’t even know what’s going to happen when we dock next, but I’m not going anywhere, okay? I’m with you for the long haul.”

Erik paused. This was it, he was going to say it, he needed to say it before his throat closed up -

“I’m your partner. And-“

_ I love you. _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took them long enough, didn’t it?


	8. Time to Spare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was odd, being back home.  
> But that was a funny word, wasn’t it?  
> Because Sniflheim has never been a home so much as a prison.

_ I love you.  _ El’s words, words that came so easily to him, rang in Erik’s mind.

Erik’s jaw was hanging open, cut off mid-sentence. 

He didn’t know where to go from here.

Even if this was all he had intended to say, he hadn’t been prepared. Somehow he hadn’t expected El to say it back.

His silence stretched out to fill the room.

El was pushing himself up off Erik, his face was beet-red from his cheekbones to the roots of his hair, and his wings were folded in tight to his back. “I’m sorry! I just thought- I thought that was what you were going to say! I shouldn’t have-“ El cut himself off, sitting back on the end of the bed, his face buried in his hands.

Was Erik still breathing? He couldn’t tell anymore.

Erik moved on impulse, moving El’s hands away, and pulled him back in close, holding his dragon flush against himself. “I love you.”

There,  _ now _ he was breathing. Took him long enough to say.

El held him back, around his waist, talons just sharp enough to be felt through his tunic.

So many times now, they had been this close, holding, feeling, and somehow this was still different. This was free. 

There was no longer any made-up barrier between them.

Their faces were mere inches apart.

Erik could pick out every little nuance of color in El’s eyes. So brightly blue - 

“Can I-“ 

“Would you-“ They asked each other at the same time, cutting off and grinning like idiots.

Erik held El by the nape of his neck, and pulled him in closer.

It was brief. Too brief.

Someone was pounding on the door.

“Monsters on deck!” Veronica called through the wood. “We need you both out here!”

Reluctantly, Erik let El go, and grabbed for his weapon. 

This was fine. It was fine.

No matter how frustrating-

They had time, now.

All the time in the world for each other.

~~

All the time for each other, and all the time to get caught up in insane happenings.

How had they gone from helping a lonely child to fighting a possessed painting?

One of the cursed beings' hands crashed down onto the platform they stood upon, and Erik lost his balance, falling to a single knee.

El didn’t get a chance to help him up before Dora released a purple smog.

He held his breath, hissing out air to dispel it, but Erik wasn’t so lucky.

He was on his feet again, but he was no longer himself.

Erik launched himself into an attack, but instead of aiming for Dora, his empty hand closed around El’s throat, and the point of his dagger met with El’s shoulder.

_ Erik! _ El had fallen back, his sword skittered out of reach.

He had to cut off a yell as the knife in his shoulder dug deeper, as he felt the heat of his spilled blood as it began to well up around the blade.

His hands pushed at Erik’s shoulders, trying to force him off, but finding himself unable to.

Any harder, any more force, and El would risk hurting him. He knew his own strength, knew first hand how little force it took for his own hands to break bone. Even as Erik hurt him, El found himself unwilling to risk injuring him.

_ Erik, please _ … “Stop-“ El managed to choke out around the hand on his throat, “Please-“

The unnatural shine that had overtaken Erik’s eyes showed no sign that he heard El, the cold smile on his face showed no sign that he cared.

El felt nothing coming from him.

One final push downward made the tip of Erik’s blade tear through to lodge in the pathing below.

El screamed out in pain, a purely animalistic sound that ripped out, echoing around.

He dropped his hands to the ground, talons scraping deep into the floor, tail lashing from side to side as his mind screamed and pleaded with him to fight back.

Relief finally came as Erik was taken, pulled away from El’s form, and a stinging  _ smack  _ echoed through the room, as Sylvando snapped Erik back to reality.

El could feel their bond again.

Could feel the terror linking through them.

Sylvando let Erik go, who wobbled on his feet for a heartbeat, eyes wide and terrified, darting over El, over the hand-shaped bruise on his throat, over the familiar hilt lodged in El’s shoulder, and the blood on his own hands, piecing together everything that happened.

He dropped to his knees, terrified numbness creeping through his heart.

El couldn’t tell if the sudden urge to be sick was his own, or if it was Erik.

The ringing in his ears blocked out the sound of Serena hurrying to his side, muffled her quiet apology, but it did not block out the pain as she slid the knife out of his flesh.

It didn’t stop him from hearing his own furious growl as fresh pain hit, as the wound stitched itself back together.

Didn’t stop Erik from hearing the pained sounds inside his head.

He heard the sizzle of a powerful fire spell, and a blood-curdling scream from the Mural.

Dora-in-Grey gave in.

They’d won.

He scarcely heard Dora-in-Grey’s furious prattle. Ever so slowly, she began to disintegrate, just as every other common monster did. “My muse, my inspiration!” Her voice turned garbled and distorted. “My  _ Mordegon! _ ”

“Mordegon!” Rab repeated, not yet standing down.

Dora laughed, spreading her arms wide. “You will learn more soon enough! My Master, may these unsightly souls be cursed, and may you live forever more!”

A golden light burst forth from her core, and in a flash of light, she was gone.

Serena focused on him, and Rab went person to person checking for injuries, Erik didn’t move from where he’d kneeled down before him.

The pain subsided easily, healing spells working quickly.

There was still an odd tingling sensation in his shoulder, but more as if he’d just simply slept on it.

His legs didn’t want to stand, refused to listen to his mind. 

“Erik,” El called out as he watched Erik stand, and reached out a hand. “Help?”

Wrong hand.

The muscle in his shoulder twinged painfully, and El couldn’t stop his wince.

Erik’s eyes darted away. He made no move to help him.

_ Erik, please.  _ El begged silently, dismayed. 

Erik’s hands fisted at his sides, but this time, he did help. El stumbled over his own feet, but Erik caught him.

Light burst forth behind them.

Another crack to the real world opened up, shining a brilliant golden light.

And on the floor before them, lay the key that had been around her neck.

The town would be safe now, and they now had the means to obtain another orb.

They had a confirmation on their theory about the Lord of Shadows, and yet...

El felt like their trip here had been a mistake.

~~

Rab speculated about Mordegon’s identity and motives the whole walk back to the inn.

Erik’s frayed nerves could hardly stand the needless chatter.

His skin burned where El touched, and all he wanted was to  _ sleep _ .

Finally, when they reached their rooms, Erik let El down onto one of the two single beds, and turned to the other without a word.

“Erik?” El sounded confused, and expectedly so, they hadn’t  _ not  _ shared a bed since that last night in Octogonia… and even before that, El would often sleep curled like a cat by Erik’s shoulders. “Is everything okay?”

“‘Course it is.” Erik lied, putting on a smile, and  _ damn  _ this bond. Sometimes he would like to keep his true feelings to himself. None of this was El’s fault. He wasn’t the one the frustration was directed at. “The beds are pretty narrow here, right? I don’t want one of us to end up on the floor in the middle of the night.” 

“Oh.” El’s wings drooped ever so slightly, and the look on his face - the dejection that showed and echoed through them both… That only made Erik feel worse. “I could sleep small, if that would help? I really don’t mind all that much.” He really wanted Erik that much. He really was willing to do that, when they had separate beds, just to keep Erik close?

To think Erik could still deny him, to think that he could turn away from those baby blues, and settle himself on the second bed,  _ alone _ … 

“There’s no need.” Please, Erik begged to no one in particular, don’t make me argue this, just let me give you space, “We won’t be here that long, anyway.” Doing his best to avoid making eye contact, Erik turned the knob on the lantern, cutting off the flame and sending the room into near complete darkness. 

“I-“ El began, and stopped. “Alright.” He sounded resigned. “Goodnight, Erik.”

“Goodnight, El.” Erik replied, turning on his side, away from his dragon, and hoping he wasn’t telegraphing every single horrible thought he was having, it wasn’t terrible enough hurting El earlier in the day, he had to make him feel less than now, as well? 

_ I love you _ . 

Did El feel the sudden stop of Erik’s heartbeat?  _ Love you, too _ . Could he hear how forced that felt? How much Erik hated himself as he clung to the sheets, and stopped himself from giving in?

Erik couldn’t stay close.

Not tonight.

Not when it still felt like he had El’s blood on his hands.

He hadn’t been laying awake long when Erik realized that he wouldn’t be sleeping.

Even if his body felt like lead, he couldn’t rest.

He couldn’t risk closing his eyes, and dreaming. Couldn’t risk seeing that beautiful seascape, or the ever approaching storm front.

Couldn’t risk that horrible voice, the cold and clammy skin-

So instead, Erik kept his eyes open, watched the moonlight on the wall, and listened as his dragon also found himself to be sleepless.

~~

Erik snuck out of their room early the next morning, not very long after El had finally fallen asleep.

If there was any benefit to sleeping alone again, it was this, being able to get up when he pleased to sneak around the inn, to find his way to the markets, to watch the vendors set up shop for the day, to lose himself in the crowd. 

Except… He wasn’t looking to pick pockets, this time.

No. He had something in mind to buy.

Once Erik had made his way past those selling food and supplies, and the many, many, trinkets modeled after the Mural that no longer existed, he found the blacksmiths.

He hadn’t intended to stop by someone exhibiting a vast array of intricately carved knives and daggers… And only ended up staying long enough to eye the make and the price tags.

Decorative, all of them. The handiwork was lovely, but Erik was skeptical about the sturdiness. The carvings were too deep, giving way to doubts about how the steel would hold up in a serious fight, and the gemstones embedded in each one only raised the value.

Erik didn’t want to keep the knife he’d…  _ Hurt _ El with, but at the same time, he couldn’t part with it.

He’d had it on his hip since El had given it to him in Gallopolis. To replace it so easily would feel wrong.

He wasn’t here to look for a weapon.

He was here for a charm.

The crowd thinned out when Erik reached the merchants that dealt in magic.

Few interested in curses and blessings and enchantments.

A plain gold band rested heavily in Erik’s pocket. Plain gold, never used for enchantment before.

Flawless metalwork.

It would hold on to a spell very well.

Erik found a stall that no one had bothered to line up at, and managed to haggle the price down to something he was much more comfortable with.

This was El’s money, after all.

He felt bad enough taking what he had, even if this was important.

It was not yet noon when Erik found himself with everything he needed, and nothing left to do.

Everyone would likely still be resting.

And Erik didn’t want to go back to the inn… 

Eventually, Erik found himself behind the ruins, sitting in the shade.

Hiding from the world.

He’d go back into town when the day turned hot.

The humidity would likely draw everyone outside… and Erik couldn’t leave El stranded at the inn forever.

But the skittering of a pebble, and an all too familiar scritching sound made Erik aware that El was anything but helpless.

The little golden dragon had managed to sniff out his hidey-hole.

And Erik didn’t know if he was thankful, or disappointed.

El came to a stop a respectful distance away, before he changed to his human form.

“How’d you manage to sneak through the crowd?” Erik asked.

“It’s surprising,” the dragon said, “How much these people are willing to overlook.” Silence fell again. A far cry different from what they were both used to.

“Would you talk to me, please?” El asked, “I Don't know why you want to avoid me. Well. I know it’s- I know it’s because of Dora. I just don’t understand why.”

“I… don’t really remember much.” Erik answered, “Just flashes that I can’t really place. One moment I was fighting, and then the next thing I knew, I was seeing you on the ground,” Erik grit his teeth, “and my knife in your arm. I know I didn’t… Didn't want to hurt you. But…” Erik trailed off. He didn’t know where to go from here.

He knew he wouldn't be able to avoid El forever, but he’d hoped to have more than just a night to figure himself out.

El didn’t speak for a moment, and Erik didn’t know what to call the feeling coming off of El-

El was stripping.

Undoing the buckles on his duster, and shrugging it off quickly before he reached behind his neck to undo the lacing above his wings.

Erik had no idea what he was doing, no idea of anything beyond the high ringing in his ears.

El pulled the sleeves down from his shoulders, and stopped there.

Erik’s eyes were drawn to where the knife had been, but aside from the freckling of golden scales, the skin was unmarked.

Not even the smallest of scars to give away that the skin has ever been broken.

“I saw you buy that charm at the market.” El said, touching his shoulder lightly. “I saw you looking at the weapons shop, so… Here.” From his bag, El pulled out a new knife. Different from any others that Erik had seen at the market, earlier.

It was another one that El had forged himself.

The blade was lighter than what Erik was accustomed to, looking more like something that should be worn for decoration than a weapon. It looked like blown glass, was nearly as light, but the gleaming emerald and gold peice felt sturdy. 

“You should be able to attack twice with it, thanks to its weight.” El said. “I upgraded everyone’s gear, too. We’ll be heading out into the field, soon. I just wanted to catch you before we left.” He brought his hand down. “You didn’t hurt me.”

“El-“

“You didn’t hurt me.” El repeated himself. “It was the Mural.” He looked to Erik with piercing eyes. “I know you wouldn't ever try to hurt me on purpose.”

He was telling the truth, Erik knew. 

But El could tell that he hadn’t succeeded. 

“We better get back to the others.” El said, “Come on, we’re heading north before we set sail again.”

Good. Erik was ready to leave this tourist-trap town and everything that came with it behind him.

Maybe a good fifty or so miles away things would start looking up.

~~

The Champs Sauvage was just a little further up the mountain pass.

They’d intended to hike through the night, investigate the rumors about a golden orb and leave before daybreak, but of course, there would be something to stop them.

Specifically, high cliffs with no easy way up.

They couldn’t easily scale them, not without having to leave behind Rab and Veronica.

And neither had yet let their pride wither down enough to accept El’s offer to fly them up.

He knew they would accept by morning, though.

No one was immune to those big blue dragon eyes.

Erik laid back against his pack, and stared up at the darkening sky, feeling the light rain against his skin.

He felt tense.

El felt tense.

And he didn’t need a dragon’s bond with the rest of the party to know they all felt the same.

He was shit at hiding things, everyone knew there was something amiss between him and his dragon.

It was a wonder no one had figured him out, yet.

Footsteps drew near. “Now, Erik, what did I tell you about letting chances slip away?” 

Erik didn’t respond. Sylv knew good and well what the problem was, now. 

“Ellie doesn’t blame you.” They said, “Not one of us thinks that you actually wanted to hurt him. It was all that nasty old painting and her magic. We all know you’d be the last person in the world to hurt a hair on his head.” 

Bitterness crept up Erik’s throat, and he sat up to respond. “And yet, here I am.” Whether he wanted to hurt El or not wasn’t the problem. He  _ did  _ hurt him, plain and simple. 

And healed or no, he knew firsthand how much being on the wrong end of a knife hurt. But to have one go all the way through-

He couldn’t imagine.

Sylv dropped down cross-legged on the dirt beside Erik. Their hand tapped on Erik’s cheek. Nothing even close to the sobering slap that had knocked him back to his senses, but just hard enough to grab his attention. “What happened there was not your fault. It was no one but the mural, you understand? Now, you’re going to go and find Ellie, and you’re going to give him a hug, and you’re going to make up, got it?”

_ Finding  _ him wouldn’t be an issue. It was the rest that Erik took issue with.

The leaves rustled nearby, and El stepped back into the ring of firelight.

Everyone hushed.

“You were talking about me.” El said.

Not a sound.

“I found some rabbit tracks, so I’ll be going hunting.” El said when no one responded. “I’m sure I can find enough for us all. Would you come with me, Erik?” El asked, and waited. Erik couldn’t tell if he was hearing desperation in his voice, or if he was imagining it. But El did feel Erik’s apprehension, felt the tight pull of nerves, but still waited.

Erik nearly spoke, nearly said no, but before he could, Sylvando spoke up for him.

“Oh, go on! You always get so nervous when Ellie goes off without you. Why not give it a shot?” There a lot Sylv wasn’t saying. But Erik knew that if he declined now there’d be hell to pay.

“I-“ Erik looked at El’s outstretched hand, and caved. “Okay.”

El practically  _ glowed _ , and after pulling Erik up to his feet, took only a heartbeat to change. 

It’d been so long since they’d done this, Erik realized as he swung a leg over El’s neck, and settled against his back, right above his wings. He hadn’t realized he’d missed it.

_ Hold on _ , El told him, and Erik was given no further warning before El was off.

There was a quick moment of pure panic as they left the ground, but it quickly turned to elation. 

The sharp incline El had taken to the skies evened out as they rose.

His dreams were not reality. They were not at sea.

They were not in danger.

Erik was safe with El.

The misting rain was not the dark storm front he feared. 

The light sprinkling of rain dissipated the moment they broke through the cloud line.

The sky was pink with the new dusk light, and the air was frigidly cold.

So much like the seascape Erik had been seeing in his dreams so very often, lately, and so, so much better. The river running through the Sauvage glinted in the dim light, and the sea on the horizon sparkled with the light of the rising sun.

It was silent up here.

Peaceful.

Erik let go of El’s horns, and instead wrapped his arms around his neck, settling his chin on his head.

He’d been an ass, these last couple days.

What a fucking idiot.

He really needed to listen to Sylv more. Or maybe just stop listening to himself.

They needed to stay focused, right now. They needed to stay on track, and here he was, putting his own feelings ahead of their journey.

_ I thought we were hunting rabbits?  _ Erik asked, trying to bridge the gap he’d been making not hours before. 

Embers lit up in the dark sky, as smoke puffed up from El’s lungs, rising in the air like the lights of fireflies. Bells like laughter rang in Erik’s mind.

_ We are _ . El said.  _ We’ll land in a moment. I just wanted to show you. _ Erik could understand. All this time he’d been with his dragon, and not once had he flown with him. Hopefully they’d find the time for more. Maybe while they were at sea again, when they head back to Zwwardsrust, Erik could join him again. 

He’d been so afraid of the thought of flying, but now that he was up here above the clouds, it was all gone.

El wouldn’t let anything hurt him.

Not if he could help it.

And Erik was the same.

El’s wings beat in the air, and he tilted to the side, turning them back around.

They’d only just cleared the tree line, but El knew better than to go too far into unknown territory, away from their group.

Someday they could fly as far as they wanted.

But for now…

El made their descent slow, and found the track he’d noticed before.

El hadn’t needed Erik’s help hunting at all. Not moments after El had spotted the creature, the rabbit was plucked from its hiding spot among the grasses, no time to even squeal. 

Two more of the rodents bagged, and Erik realized the invitation and the flight both were just excuses to get him to pull his head out of his ass.

Well.

It worked, so he couldn’t exactly complain.

_ You were a hunter, before, right? _ Erik asked silently, unwilling to risk startling any more prey, and thinking about the few things El had said about his home. Erik understood why he spoke little of Cobblestone. Hell, Erik hadn’t said a single thing about Sniflheim, but still… El didn’t have a hard life before their journey began. Surely there were things he’d like to talk about? 

_ That’s right _ . El’s pace slowed just a tad, and his head tilted just slightly.  _ I was a farmer, too, with my mum, but since I could do the hunting of four men, I did it the most. I kept the village fed when the crops were bad. _

He sounded proud. Not of himself, specifically, but of everyone he’d known.  _ We all took care of each other. It was a good place to live.  _ El’s eyes went misty - could dragons cry? But he shook it off, and instead directed his own question to Erik, settling down in the grass to rest. They had time to spare.  _ I’ve never asked, where are you from? If you don’t mind answering. _

“Sniflheim.” Erik answered, “Not the major part of the city, more along the outskirts.” Not exactly true, but it wasn’t a lie, either. But what else could he say? He didn’t have nice stories about an idyllic village in a mountain pass. “Before I went to Heliodor, I worked on a ship.” El didn’t need the specifics. “Not a lot happened before we met, nothing very exciting. I wasn’t leaving much behind.” Just one person. And he was coming back for her.

_ What about your family?  _ El asked,  _ Or friends? _

“I have a sister.” Erik confessed. “But she’s all I had.” There were people that helped them, from time to time, but as for friends… there wasn’t anyone he could name. It would be good to begin explaining everything sooner rather than later, now that they were so close to his old home. “She… She isn’t well. I left for her, to find a way to help her.” 

Alarm radiated from El.  _ And you’re following me around? We could’ve gone to Sniflheim by now! Have you found anything to help her? Could  _ I  _ help her? _

Erik stopped, and stared at El. He knew that El would want to help. Knew that he’d want to follow Erik to Mia as quickly as his wings would carry him, and that had been Erik’s plan all along, but… 

_ Erik? _

Erik blinked once, only just realizing that he’d stopped. “I- I’m sorry.” He fumbled, “I’m just… Mia and I, we’ve always been on our own. It’s… Different, having someone wanting to help like you.”

_ You aren’t alone.  _ El said,  _ You have me, now. I’ll be here for both of you. No matter what. _

And, how could Erik respond to that? 

The rabbit’s fur was soft on Erik’s skin. The pelts would fetch them a decent price back in town. They’d be able to stock up for their long sail easily. 

Erik met his dragon’s eyes, the rising embers reflected in them, and again, Erik was reminded of fireflies, the little wonderous insects that he hadn’t even known about until he’d made it to Heliodor. Mia would love to see them. Mia would love El. “Thank you, Firefly.”

Erik could hear wind chimes, again. These sounds were beginning to make sense to him. El was happy.  _ Firefly? _

“Don’t like it?” Erik asked, ready to drop it, and any other potential nickname. Gods- calling a dragon  _ Firefly _ , he was an idiot. A stupid, sappy, idiot. 

_ Never said that _ . El shook his head.  _ It’s fine. _

El waited a moment, his claws scraping at the sandy ground, and spoke once more.  _ Erik… Don't close me out. I don’t mean to live in your pocket. You don’t have to tell me every little thing… But when it’s important, when it’s something like this… Please, promise you’ll talk to me. We’re partners, remember that. _

“Yeah.” His voice felt heavy, “I promise.” Erik was no good with feelings, and exposure didn’t seem to be helping all that much. And it still wasn’t a promise he could keep, just yet.

There was still too much weighing him down. He couldn’t burden El with the truth yet.

“Should we head back?”

_ One more. _ El decided,  _ for good luck _ .

~~

One more.

Erik has thought that he had meant another  _ rabbit _ .

Not giant birds of prey.

El took to the sky like a natural, and Erik supposed he was. 

But he didn’t have the spare time to watch as the third condor closed in on him. 

Erik was having a much more difficult time with his opponent.

The bird taunted him, attacking from above before quickly flying out of range, leaving Erik on the ground taking more hits than he managed to dole out.

Of all the times to leave his boomerang behind - they were just meant to be  _ hunting! _

Sparks flew from talons hitting the steel of Erik’s blade, just barely blocking the attack before the condor flew out of reach once again.

Erik stood his ground and waited for it to try again.

This new knife was strong.

If he could just get another good hit in… 

The bird dived down, and Erik stepped to the side, digging the pointed end of his blade into its side.

It worked, his hit struck twice, and the condor flew off, dripping blood, choosing flight over fight.

Erik sheathed his new knife, not caring for the monster blood that still stained it. He could clean it later.

He dragged the back of his hand across his face, wiping away what was left of his nosebleed.

Annoying fucker got him square in the  _ face _ . Giving himself a quick once-over, he decided it all really wasn’t that bad. Just a little scraped up.

And as for El-

El landed smoothly. His own two opponents following their leader, fleeing for their lives.

There was a rip clean down the middle of El’s right ear, and the torn cloth over his chest was darkening red. One of the birds had sliced him up pretty bad, but the bleeding was already tapering off.

Even if Erik could tell it stung like a bitch.

Not too bad for a pair of reckless idiots.

“Think you could patch us up a bit before we head back?” Erik suggested, holding the bloody collar of his tunic away, “We don’t want to startle everyone  _ too  _ badly.

El looked over Erik, and then at himself. “Oh.” He said, “I didn’t realize that was me.”

His hands came away red from the handle of his blade, and El heaved a dramatic sigh. Cleaning up blood was such a headache.

“Come on, sit down for a bit.”

El’s hands glowed easily with the spell, and Erik’s pains melted away as bruises faded and cuts closed up. He sighed as it all went away, and heard El as well.

So not only were they sharing thoughts and feelings, but pain was now on their growing list?

Erik had to grimace.

That wasn’t going to be fun.

Erik would’ve been content to sit and rest while El took care of his own injuries, but a gleam of gold caught his eye.

Catching the faintest beam of moonlight was the gilded detailing of a treasure chest.

So, the birds had something to protect?

“Hey,” Erik grabbed El’s attention and pointed over to the chest. Could be something valuable. Could be a good stash of gold the birds had swiped from travelers, or a gem they’d decided to keep safe.

Could be worthless.

Only one way to find out.

El opened it, and under his breath said, “Holy  _ shit _ .”

Erik sat up straighter. El hardly ever swore, had to be something real nice to get him to-

El carefully pulled the treasure from it’s safe nest.

An Orb.

The Orb they came this way to find, prepared to climb and search for days for, was just being held onto by a few dumb birds?

Of all the luck… El was grinning wide.

Erik just shook his head, and started laughing.

Three rabbits and one of the Orbs.

Erik would be willing to say that the hunt was a successful one.

Healed up, and just about as clean as they could be, El flew them back down to their party, not stopping for anything.

They may as well get this over with as soon as possible.

“What  _ happened  _ to you two?” Jade was the first to notice them, getting to her feet in seconds. “You’re both-“

“We’re fine.” Erik said, holding his hands out in front of his chest, “Just ran into some monsters.”

Serena was reaching for her wand, but Erik cut her off as well. “El patched us both up. We’re really fine.” ErIK dismounted easily, hoping the fact that he was clearly not in pain would help their case, but El changed back, and the bloody tear in his duster became visible.

“You call this ‘ _ fine _ ’?” Jade demanded, tugging the both of them forward by their collars. “Just how the hell did you get this torn up going  _ hunting _ \- you went looking for the orb on your own, didn’t you?” She dropped her hands, and her voice took a nosedive from concern to fury.

“Not intentionally.” El said, meekly. “We didn’t see the birds until they'd already attacked, I didn’t realize it had the orb.”

“So you got it?” Veronica stood, not caring for their state of health, apparently. “Where is it?”

El produced their spoil from his bag, somehow, the golden orb shining in the low light.

“I’d say that’s worth a few scratches, right?”

No one spoke, and Erik stopped smiling.

“We really didn’t mean to fight on our own.” El muttered, looking at the ground.

“Oh, give the lads a break.” Rab piped up, “They did well to get it, intentional or not. Only two orbs left to find, now.”

“That’s right.” Serena said, “After those, we can finally go home!”

“We aren’t going  _ home _ ,” Veronica sighed, “Arboria is on the way, but we’re going further than that. Arboria isn’t the end of the journey, you know.”

As the twins began to bicker, Erik tried to speak over them. “Where to next?” There were few major settlements left that they had yet to search. 

“Zwwardsrust.” Rab said, “Now that we’ve got the magic key, we should be able to take a fair look around at what’s left, and after that, Sniflheim.”

Erik felt cold.

He was going home.

~~

El shuddered at the cold burst of wind. It was bad enough dealing with ocean winds, and the flurries they’d sailed through, but this was on an entirely different level. Cobblestone never saw winters this extreme… 

For all his talk about how he didn’t feel the cold, Erik had still switched out his regular tunic for the heavy wolf wear he’d been gifted. “C’mon,” Erik took El’s hand in his, “Go little, you’ll do better in this climate with me.”

With an ease that came from the sheer amount of times they’d have to do this, El changed, and made his way up Erik’s shoulders.

This new hood wasn’t quite as roomy as the old one, but it was warmer as Erik pulled it up over his head.

The first sign that something was wrong came when Dave steered them close to the docks.

Sniflheim, while not as major as Gondolia, was still such a busy port, and yet, it was completely vacant.

Ships were docked, but there wasn’t a soul around to be seen or heard.

No workers loading ships, no smaller boats in the waters bringing cargo into town, and no ferries bringing people across the world.

A complete ghost town.

Erik swallowed against the rising tide of apprehension in his throat.

He’d been gone for years, yes… But that wasn’t enough time for this port to go disused? 

This was right in front of the gated castle town… There's no way the royal family would let it go under.

Right?

The sound of waves and sea ice against the boat was all there was to be heard as they docked, and made their way to the piers.

El had poked his head out from under Erik’s ear, and he made an effort to hide.

There wasn’t any point.

There weren’t even animals around to see him.

“This isnae right.” Rab said, his voice startlingly loud against the oppressive silence. “Middle of the day… We should be in a sea of busybodies.”

“Perhaps everyone is just inside the city?” Serena suggested. “It is so terribly frigid out, perhaps they just stayed home.”

That wasn’t right. Erik nearly corrected her, but found himself mute. It was never too cold out for the people born near the Hekswood. They had the tundras and sea ice in their blood, nothing kept them home when there was work to be done.

Erik was the first to continue forward, feeling his pulse pick up as they got closer to the city gates. This wasn’t right. This  _ wasn’t right _ . His nerves began screaming panic signals at him. He needed to run.

There was something terribly wrong, just on the other side of the wall-

_ Erik. _ El’s voice cut through the terror like a burning knife through ice. 

Erik shuddered, and his dragon snuggled close in his hood, his tail wrapping loosely around his throat.

It was little, but it was enough to ground him.

Erik brought a hand up to place under El’s snout.

He could do this.

Everything was fine.

He was just anxious about coming home.

“The Crystal Kingdom of Sniflheim… It’s been a fair while since I last visited. I wish I could say it warms my heart to be back…” Rab trailed off, glancing around the empty shore as if he expected Mordegon himself to jump out at them, “but I’ve got a right dreadful feeling about this.” 

“You aren’t the only one… but-  _ brrr! _ ” Veronica shivered, even through the coat she was freezing, hands rubbing up and down her arms in an effort to warm herself. “Let’s hurry up and get inside before we all freeze to death!”

Erik couldn’t help but feel bad for the poor girl.

The children in Sniflheim had thicker skin, but even they struggled with the sheer cold, sometimes. Really an adult or not, she shouldn’t be outside too long.

Hurrying ahead of the group, she stopped suddenly and took a step back. “What in Yggdrasil’s name…?” She turned back to the group, “The gates are covered in ice!”

_ Ice _ ? Erik picked his pace back up, and sure enough, from the cobblestone pathing to the top of the gate, ice had formed, inches thick, leaving only a slither of the grand doorway visible.

“How strange.” Serena said, bending down to look. “I suppose it’s only natural that they’d ice up in a climate like this, however.”

“Natural, my ass!” Veronica scoffed, “What about the citizens? How are they supposed to live, trapped inside?”

Enough with his cover, this was more important. “It’s not natural for ice to freeze upwards, without a drip.” He reaches out, gloved hands coming to rest against the frozen water. It was perfectly smooth. “This… This all froze at once.”

“Oh, and you’re an expert, are you?” Veronica sneered at him, cranky from the cold and wet. 

“Laddie,” Rab began, “You’re from around ‘ere, aren’t ya? I haven’t been able to place your accent ‘til now, but I’m right, aren’t I?”

Erik didn’t answer. Didn’t need to. Not when he’d forgotten so easily, and let the accent he worked so hard to hide slip out.

“El.” He asked, “Can you melt the ice?”

_ I can try _ . 

Erik nodded, and took a few good strides back, pulling his hood down and giving the dragon the space he needed to jump to the earth and change.

“Get back,” Erik said, trying to round the group away, “Don’t get too close.” He’d only seen it a handful of times, but he knew what El was capable of.

Looking back, Erik saw El brace himself against the ground with a hind leg, his wings fanned out to his sides, and Erik saw a light grow deep within his chest, before bursting out his opened jaws.

He heard Jade and Sylvando let out alarmed gasps, and they both furthered the distance between themselves and the dragon.

The flames licked up the ice, and a cloud of steam began to waft into the air as the melt was immediately evaporated.

A bead of sweat marked its way down from Erik’s hairline.

Even in the frigid north, the heat of the flames was enough to scorch anything standing too close.

But when the flames tapered out, and El hung his head, jaws wide and chest heaving with the exertion, the ice was largely unchanged.

Drips fell from where the blast was centered, and there was a noticeable dent in the freeze, but it was  _ only  _ a dent.

It was incredulous to think-

But the fire had hardly done a thing, even after El giving all he had to spare.

That couldn’t… 

Rab was the first to move. Walking right through what remained of the steam, and placing a hand on El’s head as he came to stand next to him.

“Don’t worry about it, Elwood.” He comforted his grandson, “It wouldn't have worked. This ice… It’s black magic. Enchanted.”

El stood taller, the slip with his name gone unnoticed. 

“Around back.” Erik said, joining Rab at El’s side, “Just past a campsite for the dock workers to rest, there’s another door. With the magic key, you should be able to get it open.” 

“And what about you and Ellie?” Sylvando asked.

“We’re going over the wall.” Erik decided as he spoke. This was so very  _ wrong.  _ It felt… Something in the air felt so terribly familiar.

He couldn’t not recognize this cursed feeling.

The dead silence… As if the city was filled with corpses.

Or statues.

“If I’m right,” Erik no longer felt any hesitation for going inside, “Then there won’t be anyone to see us.”

A horn bumped into Erik’s hand, and he looked down at his dragon.

Concern was laced into every feature, and now that Erik could focus, he felt anxiety tying them together.

They both knew that whatever they found over the wall wasn’t good.

El flew directly up, and circled the town a few times as they watched the party make their way to the door.

Nothing moved inside the city.

Not a person, not an animal.

Ice grew tall on the buildings inside as well.

Blocks of it grew tall wherever they looked.

The entire town stank of a curse.

Landing safely on the ground, folding his wings back to his sides, El realized somewhere between the scorching cold on his scales, and the horror creeping along his bond, that the sculptures he’d spotted from the sky, were in fact, real people.

Living people turned to ice.

Not one to be seen was still mobile, still warm, still  _ alive _ .

_ Erik, your sister!  _ El realized with a jolt of horror. They needed to find her - if there was any chance she’d been missed by whatever caused this, she needed their help.  _ Where is she? _

El couldn’t feel much other than an ill feeling coming from Erik, nothing more than…  _ Guilt?  _ The odd feeling had only grown since they first spotted flakes of snow mixing into the rains on the sea, but now, it overpowered nearly everything else.

“Not here.” Erik spoke just below a whisper, only El hearing him. “She’s not here.”

Saying nothing more, El crouched down to let Erik off easily, and took his usual place on his shoulders back.

_ Sorry _ . El apologized as Erik hissed at the contact of his frozen scales.

Sylv saw them, and came rushing over. “All these people!” They said, distraught, “Not one person is unfrozen, and all the homes…” They shook their head sadly. “Did you see anything from up above?”

“I’m afraid not.” Erik said, his voice belying the shock he truly felt. 

But even as he spoke, a spot of color against the snow caught El’s eye. 

_ Over there _ .  _ Someone’s alive _ !

How had they not seen her? Her cloak so bright, her crown reflecting light… 

The woman, royalty by her appearance, startled when she saw them, and stared dumbfoundedly for more than a moment before she was able to shake off her shock.

Queen Frysabel’s eyes caught on El, and went wide. “That creature you have there…” Something odd glinted about her. Her shadow did not quite fit her figure… But she caught herself. “It is of no matter. You gave me quite a fright! I hadn’t expected to see travelers in town… Or anyone, really.” 

“Finally!” Veronica threw up her hands, “Someone who hasn't been turned into a block of ice! Can you tell us what happened here?”

She looked away. “Oh… It all started three months ago. Everything was fine… Then the sky went dark with the curse of a witch. She chanted an ancient incantation, and just like that, everyone, and everything, froze. The wind took my breath clean away, and when I next opened my eyes, my Kingdom was in ruins, I the only one spared her wrath.”

_ Three months?  _ Erik froze in place, not feeling out of place in this frozen graveyard of his kinsmen. For  _ three months _ , his old home had been a block of ice, with the rest of the world none the wiser? How could that be possible?

“Your Kingdom?” Sylvando repeated, taking in her crown and the emblem sewn onto her cape. “So you would be…” 

“Oh, do forgive me. I am Frysabel, queen of Sniflheim.” She smiled at Sylvando.

Something about her didn’t feel right.

The jump between emotions, from shock, to distrust, to misery, to friendliness… It was so clearly disingenuous.

“I knew you rightly enough,” Rab said, “My, my, it’s been such a long time, but surely you recognize your auld father’s friend?”

Frysabel glanced between them all, and shook her head. “No. I’m sorry. It’s like you said, it’s been such a long time…”

Rab’s face fell. 

“I suppose now isn’t a good time to ask for the Orb, but…” Veronica trailed off. “We do need it ever so much.”

“An Orb? What kind of Orb?” Queen Frysabel asked, staring off in space with doll-like eyes. Porcelain. Fake. Sightless.

“Why, the big blue ball that’s been handed down in her family for ages, lassie!” Rab said, looking disconcerted. “Have you neglected your studies? But truth be told, we need to borrow it for a wee while.”

“Oh, oh, of course.” She recovered quickly, “You would be welcome to it, but alas, it’s locked up in the castle, behind the wall of ice.”

The castle too? This was already eerie, but… Not one building could be entered. There was a fire, yes, but even that could only do so much against the freezing nights… “You… You aren’t the queen.” Erik realized.

Everything they were seeing in her now… It was a facade. A costume. No one could survive the Hekswood in the daylight, imagining the cold of the city overnight, with little more than a campfire to keep the frostbite at bay… 

“Erik, what are you talking about?” Sylvando asked, a hand clapping down on his shoulder, “I’m so sorry, your majesty, he must not be feeling well.”

Fury burned hotter inside him than the confusion. “I’m not ill!” Erik rolled his shoulder, jerking away from Sylvando’s grip. “She’s not human! No one could survive the nights here!” He turned to Rab, pleading with the old man to listen, “Would the Queen you knew not know about the most well-known heirloom? Not really recognize you? How long  _ has  _ it been?”

Frysabel, the imposter, took a step back, shielding the book she held away from them.

“Not even five years, now.” Rab answered. “Even if I don’t look the same, Frysabel would remember me.”

The imposters expression hardened.

She lashed out with one arm, barked out a spell, and a twist of snow and ice blasted forth.

Erik turned away, pulling his hood close, doing everything in his power to shield El from the cold.

The wind faltered and died down, and when Erik felt it safe to turn back, the spot the witch stood on was empty, save for a simple brown scarf.

“Good work, laddie.” Rab said, “I should’ve known better than to trust right off the bat. You really saved our skins.”

_ Erik _ ? El asked, his nose pressing to Erik’s cheek,  _ Are you okay? _

Was he? Erik didn’t know anymore.

He thought he hated this place.

But to see it like this… 

_ No.  _ Erik said simply,  _ I don’t think I am. _

El curled around tighter, in some poor imitation of a hug.

_ Restart the fire. Rest. We’ll figure out what we need to do from here. _

  
  
  


El wasn’t shivering.

Dragons didn’t shiver.

He sat as close to the fire as he could stand, and shared a woolen quilt with Erik, and yet he still felt too cold to think.

He clutched a mug of hot water in his hands, not to drink, but just to keep his fingers from freezing off.

How could Erik stand it here?

“So we’ve seen our witch,” Veronica said, “But what do we do from here? How do we know where to look?”

“I don’t know how accurate it is,” Erik began, “But we have a legend, here, about a witch that was sealed away centuries ago.”

“And?” Serena prompted, “How could it help us?”

“I don’t remember all of it.” Erik confessed, and again, El sensed guilt and shame coming off of him in waves. “But there’s an old fairy tale, about a witch and a horrible beast that had done this before, from their lair in the Hekswood. If Mordegon can bring a mural to life, then it isn’t too far fetched he could make a bedtime story real, too?”

“It’s as good a theory as we’ll get.” Rab said, “And we have no time to spare.”

Erik nodded, “I don’t know where, exactly. The Hekswood is like a maze, and we’d need to be in and out as fast as possible-“

“I’m familiar with it.” Rab explained, “But it doesn’t seem as though I have half your experience. How well do you know these forests?”

“Well enough.” Erik admitted. “I’ve spent more than my fair share of time in them.”

“Then it may be best if you led the charge.”

Erik stopped. “Me? But, El-“

“El won’t be at his best in these conditions.” Rab cut him off, “and I mean nothing bad by that, lad, you understand? And even if he was, you know this area, you know where to go better than any of us.”

He wasn’t wrong. But to take El’s place at the front, even temporarily… 

El wasn’t upset, Erik could feel.

He didn’t have any reservations about following Erik.

“Can ye lead us?”

“Yes.” Erik decided. “I’ll lead.”

~~

“Stay close.” Erik said, pulling the fur lined collar tighter around El’s neck. The simple fire enchantment on it wouldn’t do much against the ruthless cold ahead, but it was better than nothing. “Keep moving and keep dry.” There was no reason to hide anymore. Erik had the experience, the knowledge to keep everyone safe, keeping his past obscure wasn’t worth risking anyone’s life. “And no matter what, no matter how tired you get, don’t even think about sleeping, or your next bed will be a box.”

Dire? Yes.

But it got his point across.

They needed El to be able to fight.

Which meant he needed his human form.

Everyone was as bundled up as Erik could convince them to get.

“Okay,” he began, “From the snærfelt, we’ll head north. There’s a split in the path, and the road we’ll be taking has an ice tunnel. It’ll be cold, and it’ll be cramped, but it’s one straight shot to the Hekswood, no monsters, no obstacles.”

Erik glanced around, making sure that everyone was listening. “From there, the temperatures will take a plunge. The Hekswood isn’t a natural cold. Blizzards form and disappear in seconds, they’re completely unpredictable. When they start, you need to be close enough to keep in contact with each other. Hold hands, and keep still. If you can’t see where you’re putting your feet, it isn’t safe to move. The cold can numb your legs, and if you step wrong, you wouldn’t be able to know you hurt yourself until you see the blood. And if you fall in the river, you  _ will  _ freeze, no doubt about it.”

“Gods! And you people chose to  _ live  _ here?” Veronica said, disbelieving.

Erik continued on, ignoring her. “The creatures in the forest can try to trick you. Don’t follow things you see, don’t listen to any voices you hear, or it could be the last thing you do.” Erik went quiet, letting his words sink in.

This could very well be the most dangerous land they set foot in. Fae lands were not something to be trifled with.

“Everyone understand? Then we need to move.”

  
  


Their journey began silently, and they moved across the snow fields quickly, not stopping for rest or camp. The skies were clear and they needed to move while that remained. 

  
  


Surely enough, a blizzard whipped up not long after they crossed the threshold. Whatever beings that controlled the wood displeased by their trespassing.

Erik reached behind him, and felt a hand grab his own.

He heard footsteps, and stood shock still.

Two sets.

The snow and wind burned his face.

He just needed to wait this out.

When the wind slowed to a flurry, Erik dared to look up.

The hand in his own wasn’t El’s.

No.

Instead, Erik was meeting Jade’s startled purple ones.

El wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“That  _ idiot! _ ” Erik fumed. “The first thing- the  _ first thing  _ I told him was to stay close!”

“Laddie,” Rab held to his sleeve, “Ya need to calm down, El will be just fine, getting angry won’t help him.” 

Oh, but it was helping Erik. Anger had a wonderful way of warming people up. “I know he’ll be okay, because  _ I’ll  _ be the one kicking his ass as soon as we find him.”  _ You hear me, El?  _ Erik hoped that if nothing else, El could feel that he was in trouble,  _ Soon as I find you, you’re dead! _

~~

He knew better than to wander off without reason.

He knew to expect voices in the snow, but when the voice was  _ Erik’s own?  _

Was El supposed to not listen?

_ Soon as I find you, you’re dead!  _ El heard Erik’s voice loud and clear in his ears, but found himself too preoccupied to reply. 

And what would he even say?

‘Sorry, Erik. Just a little busy fighting off that fairytale monster you mentioned, and Sir Hendrik, too. Be right with you.’

Yeah.

That would go over well.

El’s sword crashed down on the Jörmon, but bounced off the beast’s blubbery skin as if its flesh was impenetrable. 

The beast reared back and roared, giving El the opportunity to cast sizz.

The beast stumbled back, it’s roar changing from one of anger to pain.

Hendrik took his own turn, greatsword brandished, and actually managed to take a chunk of the beast's flesh with it.

El fired off another two sizzes, back to back, driving the beast to the ground. 

_ “Jöör… _ ” Jörmon didn’t get back up.

Hendrik approached the beast slowly, and raised his weapon high above his head. “You have served your mistress well.” And brought the blade point down into Jörmon’s gut.

With one last call, Jörmon faded away.

El took a step back as Hendrik turned to him. “And now for you, Darkspawn” His sword rose again, but the blizzard picked back up before Hendrick could carry out his threat.

Rapid-fire ice spells hit the ground at El’s feet, kicking up snow around him.

The ice grew up over his legs in seconds, trapping him against the ground, and sending white hot pain through his veins.

El bit back a scream of pain as the ice encased his wings, no barrier between the thin membrane and the sub-zero temperatures.

“What is the meaning of this?” Hendrik was just as trapped as he was, the ice creeping up over his chest, his arms already frozen in place.

“What a pleasure to finally meet you, Sir Hendrick!” 

The witch was Dragonspawn. Her frostbitten skin speckled with lavender scales, two twisting gray horns rising high above her head like a crown, and while no wings sprouted from her shoulders, a long, elegant tail curled behind her, purple scales and blonde fur at the end.

If El had any room to move, any ability at all, he would’ve fallen back in shock. 

_ This  _ was the horrible creature that froze Erik’s hometown? 

“Damn you, witch!” Hendrik cursed, “Is this your doing?”

“Oh, it’s nothing personal, my sweet. But I promised the one who freed me that I’d freeze you in your tracks.” The Witch curled a finger under the chain that kept the knight’s pendant in place, and ripped it off, holding it up to what little light was left through the snow. “What a lovely little trinket, it’s just like his.”

“What?” Hendrik demanded, his mask disappeared behind his shock.

“You hero types, nothing but talk. I think it’s time to put you both on ice… Forever.” Raising her hand, the witch began to focus a spell in the palm of her hand, and the ice creeped ever further up El’s neck.

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Veronica called.

A fireball flew at the witch, hitting her in the throat, and sending the pendant flying into a snowdrift.

Erik darted forward, weapon in hand, but missed the witch by mere centimeters. 

Hand pressing to the oozing burn on her neck, Krystalinda fled, flying into the blizzard she conjured up.

As she faded out of view, the ice around El’s body shattered, leaving him free, but still so very, very cold.

Why was it so hard to breathe?

But he wasn’t the only one that had been freed.

“Well now… Sir Hendrik!” Rab stood between his grandson and the knight, “So ye’ll be in charge of the party of foreign soldiers we heard about, the ones Queen Frysabel sent?”

As if Hendrik hadn’t heard him, he held the pendant close, staring down at it as if seeing it for the first time.

He turned to leave, walking unsteadily.

“Leaving so soon?” Rab was just taunting him now, “Sure you don’t want to round us up and throw us in jail?”

“Oh, I will. All in good time.” Hendrik said, but his voice was wavering. He didn’t sound sure, and as he retreated, he didn’t once look back.

“Veronica!” Erik yelled, “Did you  _ have  _ to announce yourself? If you had just kept your mouth shut, I could’ve gotten her!”

Veronica scoffed, “Yeah, and then she would’ve gotten away, still. Big difference that would’ve made!”

“You couldn’t have known that! And  _ you! _ ” Erik turned to give his dragon a verbal thrashing, “All you had to do was keep  _ close _ , and you couldn’t even-“

Erik didn’t feel anything until the last possible second. Like a candle flame that wavered, nearly blown out by a simple breeze.

“ _ Erik-“  _ El’s voice quivered, his hands moved to steady himself, but there wasn’t anything to brace against.

He collapsed in the snow.

His fire flickered.

Erik was at his side in seconds, pulling him out of the drift.

He didn’t move.

The flame was fading, and fast. 

El’s skin felt like ice against his own, and while he couldn’t feel it, Erik knew his tail and wings were dragging through the snow, too weak to hold him out of the cold, too far gone to make himself smaller, easier to carry.

Always El.

Why was it always  _ El? _

His dragon, that wouldn’t ever hurt a soul - even within just the last few months… 

Why had they let El come with them?

They  _ knew  _ he couldn’t handle the cold! Bringing him into Hekswood… Erik may as well have handed him over to the King!

“Over there!” Veronica’s exclamation dragged Erik away from his spiraling thoughts, she was pointing at a climbing tower of smoke. “We passed a cabin on the way here!”

~~

Veronica stoked the fire in the hearth, but the burst of warmth it supplied wasn’t enough. It couldn’t warm El in time, before the cold crept too deep, and his sleep sank so far that he wouldn’t wake -

“Body heat.” Erik answered, “The fastest way to warm someone up is body heat.” For fuck’s sake, Erik was  _ raised _ here. He knew what to do when someone was lost in the Snærfelt! If this is what loving El turned his brain into, then he had a lot in store.

El’s clothes were wet with snow and ice-melt, that would freeze to his body, kill his flesh… Erik ripped off the overcoat, and unbuckled the front of the duster as quickly as he could manage, not sparing a care for the cold burn of the metal on his own skin, or his audience, or El’s dignity. There was a time and a place for niceties and proper etiquette, and this was not one of them. 

The duster piled on the floor, Erik set to work on his undershirt and trousers, before tugging at his own clothing.

_ Body heat, skin-to-skin.  _

Erik nearly flinched away when he made contact, but pulled the covers on the bed over them both, up over their heads. El’s wings were still hanging outside of the sheets, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. He hoped that despite their size, that too much heat wasn’t escaping through them.

Erik tucked El’s head under his chin, and ran his hands up and down his arms. One of El’s horns was pressing uncomfortably into his cheek, but Erik didn’t have the presence of mind to care.

_ Cover your head, cover your feet. _

His skin was pure  _ ice _ . 

This was wrong. So very, very wrong.

El was fire, he was heat, he shouldn’t be brought so  _ low _ -

He wasn’t shivering, but he wasn’t warm-blooded, was he? 

Should he be shivering? Was  _ any  _ of this helping?

He could hardly feel a thing from El.

Nothing but one burnt-out ember left.

_ And pray _ .

Erik’s hand tangled in the frost-bitten ends of El’s hair. One ember was enough.

It was all he needed to fan his fire back to life.

Erik could feel his heartbeat against his own chest. A faint, fluttery thing, working so hard for a body so very cold… 

_ Come on, Firefly. _ Erik said,  _ You’re stronger than this. _

He received no response.

The daylight faded and gave way to night.

Erik could hear his companions moving about slowly inside the small cabin.

He could hear Veronica snoring. Could hear soft breathing, and the wooden floorboards creaking.

He was fighting to stay awake. Fighting to just keep his eyes open.

He couldn’t sleep.

El needed him right now.

His dragon needed him.

The wood in the hearth popped, and snapped Erik back awake.

His eyes burned.

“Go to sleep, Erik.” Sylvando’s voice was just above a whisper. “You’ve done everything you can.”

_ No, I haven’t. _ Erik wanted to argue,  _ I haven’t done anything. I haven’t done enough. Not until he’s alright. _

Too tired to even speak, but Sylvando seemed to understand anyway.

“I’ll wake you if anything changes. Go to sleep, dearie.”

  
  


When Erik woke, it was a painfully bright light, the morning winter sun reflecting off the snow outside. 

The cabin was horribly hot.

The fire licked high in the chimney, overfed and over fanned, and with the addition of being weighed down by blankets, and tangled with El, he felt a sheen of sweat over his bare skin. Erik felt disgusting.

El was still asleep.

But his lips were no longer blue. 

His hair was no longer frozen.

Erik focused… and he could feel his fire again.

It was still too small for comfort, but it was  _ there _ .

He made it through the night.

El was going to be okay.

Ever so carefully, Erik began to extract himself from El, and sat up next to him. 

The blue was completely gone, El’s skin returning back to its golden hues. 

But he wasn’t entirely back to normal.

Dark circles ringed under his eyes, and there was still a bruise darkening over his cheek.

Before he could help himself, Erik ran a light touch over the mark, wishing he had a few healing spells of his own.

He moved his hand away before there was enough pressure to hurt, and instead tucked the hair that had fallen across El’s eyes behind his ear, letting his hand linger longer than was necessary.

He was going to be okay.

Leaning down, Erik pressed a small kiss to his temple, and El muttered something unintelligible.

Someone in the cabin cleared their throat.

Erik then remembered where he was.

Looking up, his face coloring before he even saw… but the cabin was empty.

Mostly.

Sylvando sat in the corner by the door. 

“He’s going to be just fine, dear.” They said before Erik could even begin to be flustered. “You did everything right.” They were smiling fondly at them both. “Come on, get yourself decent. We’ve got a lot to figure out.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended up having to trim this chapter a bit.  
> I had meant to extend it to the end of Sniflheim, but I was looking at another 5,000 words at least.  
> But hey, chapter nine is already begun!


	9. Ye of Little Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> El drew near, walking right by where Erik lay. “I said run, El! Go!” Erik begged, knowing that El couldn’t take Jasper on his own like this. “You promised! No more senseless heroics!”

They had only just arrived back in the square when she attacked.

Ice spells rained down from the sky, growing in starbursts where they hit, the ice sharp as a blade and just as deadly.

El had only seen her human.

He hadn’t been prepared to see her dragon form.

She was enormous, nearly twice as tall as El, and her build wasn’t as compact.

She more closely resembled the serpents that roamed the snærfelt, a long snake-like body, round circular scales, tufts of fur along with her spines, and held aloft not by wings, but something entirely different.

She swirled through the ice clouds, the occasional flash of purple the only thing giving her away.

_ You are but some upstart whelp! To think that you, who has not even seen half a century, could defeat those who have had centuries to grow and thrive? _

She was bluffing. Krystalinda’s time in the grimoire has weakened her. So much of her power had already been spent on freezing Sniflheim, on bringing the storm clouds, and on maintaining her shape, they didn’t need to fight her all-out.

They just needed to wait.

She spoke of calling others to her aid… But no one had arrived, and if she was trying to call others of their kind… El didn’t want to wait around and see what she would do when none ever answered her call.

_ And to lower yourself to the whims of a human _ … the disembodied voice echoed around them both.  _ Do you feel no shame? One of our mighty people and you give yourself up, become a pet? _

“He’s no pet!”

Erik was ignored,  _ Does it not burn away at you? Do you not wish for your freedom _ ? Her laugh echoed around.  _ It is of no matter. Sooner or later, it’ll break on its own. _

Before anyone could respond again, more ice fell from the sky, splitting the party in half.

El had only just managed to push Erik out of the way in time, but they had both fallen into the snow.

The cold burned in a way so much worse than fire.

Across the showering of ice, El could see that one of the spells had struck Sylvando, changing them into another ice sculpture.

It wouldn’t last, El knew, the witch too drained to perform any more permanent transfigurations, but even so… Without Sylv’s skill in breaking these spells, they were looking at a much harder fight.

A laugh echoed down from above.  _ Is this truly all you have? It was a waste to call for help. _

Krystalinda was taunting them.

El changed. He needed to take this fight off the ground. They were easy targets, and it seemed as though she was only interested in El.

He’d prepared to take off when Erik had taken his horn in hand, yanking his head back to the ground.

“Just  _ what  _ do you think you’re doing?”

_ Getting you safe!  _ El shot back. He’d been a burden this whole time, out in the cold.

Even now he felt his strength ebbing. Human form or not he wouldn’t last very long. He’d pay them all back for keeping him safe.

They didn’t have the time to waste arguing.

“Not alone, you’re not.” Erik muttered, his grip on El’s horn only tightening. “Crouch down, I’m coming with you.”

_ Erik- _

_ Whether you like it or not _ . Erik cut him off,  _ There’s no time to fight, just let me on. _

El saw the glint of the boomerang tucked against his back.

He wouldn’t be without a weapon.

But still, flying with a passenger in peaceful skies, or even stormy ones, wasn’t a third as difficult as flying in a fight.

He’d not only be worrying for his own safely, and those on the earth, but for Erik’s as well?

But like Erik said, he was coming along even if El didn’t like it, clambering on as fast as he could, blade of his knife held between his teeth.

El could buck him off, he was sure of it. Just one surprise movement and he could be off-

More ice raining down made his decision for him.

El took off at a sharp upward angle, as fast as he could to avoid the rapid fire attack.

He heard his companions call after him, in fury, in disbelief.

Erik’s grip was nearly lost in the sudden altitude, a shocked yelp cut short, and his head pulled back an inch or two as Erik held on for dear life.

_ This  _ was exactly why he didn’t want this!

_ Need to get you a fuckin’ saddle _ . Erik said, holding tight and sounding shaken. 

It was all El could do not to take offense. 

_ I’m not a horse!  _ There wasn’t any focus El could spare now. Krystalinda was charging him.

The way she flew made it hard to tell her aim. Without wings, he couldn’t see to judge from the angle.

El began to summon the flames from his core, hoping to the goddesses that his flames were still strong enough to melt her ice.  _ Hold on!  _ El gave Erik a warning, counted off his heartbeat until the other dragon was right on top-

He tilted to the side, flying against the current of wind, and moving out of her range. As she continued forth, he released the fire, letting it scorch down her side, and watched without any satisfaction as the fur along her spine singed and caught fire.

A furious screech erupted aloud from her, twisting through the cloud cover to put out the flames, but not before they made it down to her scales, burning her flesh.

_ When she tries to heal, make your throw!  _ If El was lucky, if he had even a scrap of favor left, she’d be too focused on it to pay attention to El, or the other way around.

One of their attacks would have to hit.

_ Such pathetic flames. A proper dragon wouldn’t be caught dead this pitiful! As soon as she arrives, you are all done for, _

Surely enough, the burns began to glow in a healing green light.

Erik pulled back his arm, waiting for El to fly within range - began to cast a spell -

One of hers hit him instead. 

The bladed weapon caught her around the head, ruining the aim of her spell, but it still clipped his wing, nearly sending him and Erik both plummeting to their doom.

Before he dropped too much altitude, El’s fall was interrupted. 

The larger dragon had him in her grip.

There were claws digging into his side, into his tail.

_ El!  _ He heard Erik yell for him, felt the horror from him. 

_ This  _ is why he didn’t want Erik coming with him!

He beat his wings against the air, dug his claws in wherever he found purchase, huffing smoke and flames, trying everything to get free.

Her head drew back, and El felt the size of magic in the air as she called up another spell.

Only cold air touched his back.

Her ice was not aimed at El at all, but his rider.

The spell was weak, all she had left to give, but it was enough.

Erik was falling, and he was caught.

El didn’t care if he was a proper dragonspawn or not. If this, if Krystalinda was how he was supposed to be… Maybe it was a good thing they were all gone!

_ You lie!  _ The shout hurt, bursting inside his ears.  _ We cannot be gone! There were so many- _

_ No! _ El screamed out.

He was still caught within her claws, hardly holding himself in air - and then her laugh reached his ears. She didn’t care at all about repaying the man who released her.

She just wanted to keep her freedom.

El bit into the leg that came too close to his mouth, digging his fangs in as hard as he could, holding tight until the coppery tang was all he could detect, and Krystalinda tore her leg away, so intent on getting his teeth out that she hadn’t spared a thought for how her flesh would tear.

She was screaming, and El was nearly free.

He called on his magic, any spell, any attack that could free him the rest of the way, and what came wasn’t anything he could’ve expected.

Not fire, not ice, not wind.

But lightning.

A bolt of electricity thundered down, striking just to the left of Krystalinda and sending El’s heart thudding. Her grip loosened. 

El was free.

El let himself fall.

Spreading his wings would slow him, and he didn’t have a second to waste.

_ Just like Heliodor. Just like Helidor.  _

They would be fine.

They survived the plunge into the waterfall basin. They survived that fall, they would survive this one.

Erik reaches an arm out to El, and he could barely see his Keeper’s face, obscured by the wind whipping his hair and his hood.

But the wind couldn’t obscure what he felt.

_ Faith _ .

Erik believed in him. Always had, always would, and El was not about to betray that faith now or ever.

His claws found purchase in Erik’s arm.

Barely seconds left to fan out his wings, to slow their momentum.

And it wasn’t enough time.

El took the brunt of the impact, turning to shield Erik, even softened as it was by the drifts of fresh snowfall El felt the spines in his wing snap.

He didn’t ever tend to make much sound in dragon form. Incapable of speech, it never seemed to matter. But with the snap came a rush of agony that sent his teeth grinding and his claws digging into the snow, Erik underneath him being the only reason he wasn’t spewing fire.

Instead, the growl that burst forth was flecked with embers and filled with his pain.

“ _ El!”  _ Erik was up in a second, pulling himself from underneath El, who had just enough presence of mind left over to feel relief to see him largely unharmed. There were ice crystals in his hair, the adrenaline had left him pale and shaky, but the red in the snow was not his.

Trying to move his wing sent shocks of agony through his spine, El was grounded. 

Erik stood at his side in the center of the town, knife raised.

He couldn’t do too much with it, but if nothing else he would go down fighting.

The others would have to finish her off, except -

She had stopped fighting. The truth had finally dawned on her. There was no other dragon coming.

Her bond was truly split. She was alone.

A much smaller dragon, but still so much taller than El, landed on the snow-covered earth, coiling to fit around the square.  _ They’re gone.  _ She whispered,  _ She’s gone.  _ Two frozen eyes met El’s.  _ What happened?  _ There was something different about them.

Something missing.

Like a spell being lifted, dazzlement being cured.

Krystalinda has been under someone’s control, the shock of El’s lightning bringing her back to herself.

Krystalinda was still, no ice crystals formed in the air around her, no magic lit up the air.

She stood down.

_ Please - where have they all gone _ ?

El got to his feet, shakily, his injured wing laying limp to his side, Erik leaning heavily on his good side.

A light began to spark in the space between them.

The wisp glowed like the Yggdrasil roots, the light pulsing in time with the sudden glow on the back of his paw.

He didn’t need to reach out to fall into the vision.

The light grew all around him, and when it faded, El was left dumbstruck.

The sky was filled with dragons of all sizes and colors, flying, hunting, playing,  _ living _ . Above villages, on the roads.

The scene morphed.

El was in a kingdom he didn’t recognize.

He saw them on the ground, walking amongst humans freely, not even thinking to hide their scales. 

He saw a pair of Dragonspawn, sitting and laughing together, Krystalinda showing off simple ice magic, smiling fondly.

El saw himself in each lost dragon.

Saw a life he could’ve had, and he needed to know just as badly as Krystalinda.

What had happened to their people?

Why was El born with wings, so long after the dragons vanished from not only the world, but from memory as well?

The vision faded, and El was no longer standing in the markets of a long-lost kingdom, but with his claws buried in snow.

The dragons were all gone, and he had no answer for her.

_ I don’t know.  _ El said,  _ I didn’t know _ .

_ Then what of your parents? Of your brood? _

El shook his head, at a loss for words. He had no  _ brood _ , his parents were human.

_ I yield _ . Krystalinda said, letting her dragon form fade, leaving herself seated in the snow. “There’s nothing left to fight for.”

The clouds in the air evaporated, and the snowfall ceased.

Starting from where her palms were pressed into the ground, and stretching outwards, the snow melted, and the melt turned to steam, rising in the air.

The hot steam eased the chill in El’s bones, but the cold was back before he was able to savor the warmth.

The steam faded to mist, and even that was gone within moments.

After it cleared, El saw Frysabel, kneeling on the ground, the grimoire opened next to her.

Krystalinda had freed her of her own will, and the citizens of Sniflheim were not long behind.

Erik pulled his hood up over his hair the moment the citizens began to thaw, hiding his face. 

El felt the surge of panic from him, and was left utterly confused.

He was trying to hide from his people, that much was clear, but  _ why _ ?

Without any time to hide himself, the guards that had been frozen along the square took no time in deciding the two dragons near their Queen were a threat.

He wouldn’t be able to escape if it came down to it.

His wing was broken, the iron was already making him ill, and his party was all on the other side of these weapons… 

They drew near, and El found himself being backed against the fountain, next to the dragon that moments before had been trying to kill him.

With all his allies on the other side of the guards.

Frysabel threw herself between her soldier’s spears and the two dragons, starting a challenge at the captain. “The dragons are not to be harmed!” Her voice carried through the town, echoing off the remaining ice.

Her men stood down, but did not take their eyes from their perceived enemies.

The iron was still too close, churning nausea in El’s stomach, and starting a migraine in the center of his head.

Frysabel turned to the two dragons the second she knew they were not going to be attacked, and to El’s surprise, she reached out a hand to press to the bridge of El’s nose.

“Oh, you poor dear.” She said, kneeling down, just under eye level. “It’s okay. I am not going to let them hurt either of you.” 

El’s legs felt weak. As if he would be crashing into the snow at any moment. His eyes moved away from the Queen, searching the crowd for his companions.  _ Erik- _ He called, the moment he caught the smallest flash of blue.

They were all there, they were all safe.

“‘Erik?’” The Queen echoed, then brightened, “Your companions! Do not worry, you shall all be welcome. You have all done my Kingdom a great service. You will all be rewarded accordingly.”

The world began to grow fuzzy on the edges.

The cold was seeking deep into his bones.

His legs trembled, and the last thing El heard before the world turned dark, was Erik calling out to him.

_ I’ll find you later! I’ll be by the docks, I promise! _

~~

When El woke, he was gloriously warm, laying under a thick quilt before a blazing fire. 

It almost felt like winter at home.

When he’d drag his blankets before the hearth and sleep the day away, waiting for those few bearable hours.

But he was never one for daydreaming, and the illusion did not last.

His hand came up to scratch at his nose, and his muscles were burning.

He was in human form… Why did that feel wrong?

He normally tries to sleep as a human, but even when he falls asleep in dragon form, it isn’t a big deal.

El pushed himself up on an elbow, and a sudden shockwave of pain in his wing brought him into reality.

Their arrival in Sniflheim, his fainting in the Hekswood, meeting Snorri, their discovery in the library, and his fight with Krystalinda came rushing back. 

He didn’t remember changing.

A pained groan forced its way from his throat as the pain in his wing came in waves, and he found himself unable to straighten it out.

Unable to do anything about the pain, El sat it out, breathing carefully through his nose, fighting back any more sound.

When the tide had settled down to a more manageable level, El forced himself to his feet. He tested his wing again carefully, and while it still smarted, he could tell it wasn’t broken any longer. The bones were healed, and the pain was only a leftover.

The room he was in was small, but still ornately decorated. Paintings hung on the walls, a thick rug lay on the floor, and the bed he’d risen from was plush as soft.

His purple duster lay over the back of a chair, drying by the fire.

Running a hand over the back told him it was dry, and ever so carefully, he fit the three slays around his wings, buckling it in place.

Right before he reached the door, his reflection in the vanity window stopped him.

He was uninjured, bruises and breaks faded away, but the chip in his horn had grown.

The slice deeper, more noticeable than it had been before.

El was not a vain person, never truly taking the time to worry too fully about his appearance, but this… stung.

All his life, all the tumbles and licks he’s taken, and all that was left to prove he survived them all was a chip in his horn.

The door handle moved, and El dropped his hand to his side. 

Serena glanced through the room, before her eyes settled on El. 

“Oh, good, you’re awake!” She smiled, stepping into the room, but leaving the door ajar. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine.” El answered. “What’s happened with Krystalinda?”

“That’s why I’m here,” Serena said, “She and everyone else are up in the throne room. We’re supposed to join them for an audience. The throne room is just around the corner, come on, now.”

It felt odd, not having Erik at his side for this. 

Arriving in the throne room, El was surprised to see the other dragon standing at the Queen’s side.

The dragon still looked haunted, but her eyes were determined as she spoke. “I’ve been offered a place here at her majesty’s side.”

“I saw it all from inside the grimoire.” Queen Frysabel explained, “Your fight, the dragons, and Krystalinda’s memory. I welcome her to my Kingdom, and I hope to help her unravel this mystery of your people.”

“Krystalinda, there’s something I don’t understand,” Rab spoke up the blue orb in his hands, “What drove ye to freeze Sniflheim in the first place? Who was it controlling you?”

“I’m afraid I have no information to give you.” She apologized, “I saw very little from inside that wretched book. I saw his pendant, and the shine of silver armor, but that was all. He told me a hero from Heliodor would arrive to vanquish me, a knight called Hendrik. He planned to use my power to kill him.”

Rab went quiet, satisfied with her answer, even as unhelpful as it was.

“I’m sorry,” El apologized as he spoke up, “But could I ask you a few things? About dragons?”

“We were a mighty race of beings.” Krystalinda said, not waiting to hear his questions. “We ruled the skies, and the islands in them, just as the humans ruled the lands below, and the mermaids did the seas. We lived in peace with each other. I haven’t the foggiest what could’ve happened to us.”

“I… see.” El said, lowering his head.

“I can tell you know not much about us,” she continued on, “You fight well, but you are untrained. For a dragon like you, your fire should be stronger, even in the wintertime. You should fly faster, your spells should be harder.”

“My spells?”

Krystilinda hummed. “Some humans are born with great magical capabilities, but all dragons are born with an innate power over the arcane elements. I see that you have dominion over fire and lightning, just as I prefer wind and ice. I am to believe there is no time for you to spare here, but once there is, I implore you to return. I can teach you all there is to know about your latent abilities.”

“Which are?” Rab asked, “If ye don’t mind me asking.”

“I don’t know for him, specifically.” The other dragon answered. “He is young. His powers will take time to develop.” She looked El up and down, and tilted her head to the side. “You are of no clan I can recognize. Your wings say you are from the south, your horns from the west… You hail from a powerful one indeed, but alas I cannot easily make any predictions.”

The room went silent, and even with this new information, El still felt lost,

“We may adjourn for now,” Queen Frysabel said, standing from her throne, “But you are all invited to a banquet I am having the chefs prepare, and you all have a place here to stay tonight.”

Their party began to disperse, but Rab stopped to talk to El. “Reckon you know where Erik went?”

El nodded.

“Good, go and fetch the lad, will you?” Rab said, “The poor child is skin and bone. A good hearty meal will do him well.”

“But…” El trailed off, shuffling his wings.

“Bah! Don’t you worry none about those things. The whole Kingdom knows you’re safe, now.” Rab said, and followed Jade from the room, leaving El alone.

“Wait.” El stopped Krystalinda, extending a wing in her path, “Just one more thing.”

She looked to him expectantly. 

“When we fought… you said something about my bond.”

“Oh, don’t listen to that. I didn’t know what I was saying. Dragonspawn and humans often took each other as bondmates.”

“No, please…” El insisted, “You said that it would break on its own. What did you mean?”

She frowned at him. “You really don’t know much, do you? Tell me… How old are you, boy?”

“Twenty.” El answered, and her face went soft.

“A whelp indeed. Child… How do humans live?” She asked, but gave him no time to answer. “I was locked in that grimoire for three hundred years, but before that, I was already over three-hundred years old. Our lives stretch out over untold numbers of human lives. You can bond with a human, it was never outlawed to us, but it was known that if you did, you would likely die alongside them.”

It felt as if the world tilted on its axis. “What?” He asked, pitifully. His pulse thrumming in his ears.

“Our bonds are strong. We share heart and mind with the people we connect with, and when they die… A broken heart is a difficult thing to live with.” Krystalinda sighed, “Mine has been broken for three hundred years. Perhaps it’s because it’s been so long that the wound has healed, but… You should speak with your human. Explain it all.”

El folded his wing back.

He had known it was likely that he would live a long time, ever since the strand, but… 

This was entirely different.

“I’m sorry.” Krystalinda said, and then she was gone.

Leaving El to walk through the castle halls alone with his thoughts.

It felt odd, to be walking freely in a city like this. 

El almost wanted to change. To go little and sneak around on rooftops, through the crowds of its unobservant populace, but the open stares he was receiving were somehow more empowering than he’d thought.

Powered by spite, El held his head high, and let his wings unfold just a little. Enough to show them off, but not enough to make them a hindrance.

He met the open stares as he passed, daring anyone to do anything -

But to his surprise, many of the shocked looks turned to genuine smiles.

Word had spread quickly, of the odd creature and group of misfits that had saved their Queen and Kingdom.

It was so nice to be recognized for what he did at last.

Erik wasn't hard to track down.

El caught sight of him easily, even with his bright hair covered, the back of his wolf wear still stuck out against the white bank of snow.

Erik lifted one hand in greeting when he saw El approach. “How’d you get through town like that?”

“Whole town knows I’m here now.” El answered, “That we were the ones that saved everyone. Well, except for you.”

Erik glanced away.

“Why didn’t you come to the castle?” El asked, “Everyone is worried. You didn’t even let anyone heal you.” Icicles still clung to his hair, and while El couldn’t see them, he felt the bruises that littered his side.

“I just- just don’t want to be recognized.” Erik smiled shakily. “I get how sketchy that sounds, you don’t have to tell me.”

“Why not?” El asked quietly, “If this is your home, aren’t there people you want to see? People who would want to see you safe?”

Perhaps ask had been sheltered growing up in a village where everyone knew each other. Perhaps he didn’t have the experience that came with living in such a large place, but even so, there had to be  _ some reason _ -

“I don’t want to be back here.” Erik said, looking away. “Not until I can cure Mia.”

El let the subject drop. He didn’t understand, didn’t think he would until he finally met Mia.

But Erik had promised.

He had to trust that.

While he wanted to demand Erik explain himself, what El said instead was, “I’ll get Veronica. If that’s all, we can cast a glamour spell.”

Erik still didn't get up.

“I’m not leaving you on the boat on your own.” El said, “If you really don’t want to go in, then I’ll just stay here with you.”

“No,” Erik said, “Go enjoy whatever the queen has planned for you. You deserve some rest.”

_ So do you.  _ El said, deciding to join Erik on the snowy ground. It wasn’t nearly as cold with him by his side. He took Erik’s hand in his, looking down at his clawed fingers entwined with Erik’s gloved ones.  _ You keep taking care of me. Saving me. Please, come with us. Eat some real food, sleep in a real bed…  _

Erik squeezed his hand, and relented. “Okay.”

“Need me to carry you to the castle?” Erik teased, “I don’t know if I can carry your dragon form, but-“ One of Erik’s arms was already wrapped around his back, just under his wings, while the other… 

“ _ Erik _ !” El laughed as his feet left the ground, Erik booking his other arm under his knees, and lifting him up. “T-the ice! You’ll fall.” 

“What, again?” Erik joked, but not so much as a minute later, El’s prediction came true, Erik’s boot slipped on a patch of iced-over snow, and he sent them both to the ground.

El got up as fast as he could as he felt the bruises start to ache, but Erik was laughing, even as he was hurting.

He pressed himself up out of the snow, and lay back against the wood of a tree as he let El heal him.

It was so much more alive here, now. The docks were still mostly empty, but the fog had gone. Snow fell from branches, rabbits ran across the snow, and seabirds called from the rocky crags where they made their nests.

If it wasn’t so cold, El could see himself liking it here.

The spell healed everything quickly, with nothing being broken or too badly damaged, but when El tried to move his hands away from Erik’s side, he found them being pulled back.

“I’m sorry.” Erik said, leaning forward and pressing his head to El’s collar. “I should’ve gone with you.”

El pressed a hand to the back of Erik’s head, but couldn’t feel the heat of his skin through the hood. “It’s okay,” he said, “I’m just happy you’re alright.”

Erik laughed once, something soft, more of an exhale than anything else, “Yeah, I’m fine. How many times are you going to end up saving my life?”

“As many times as you save mine.” El responded, pulling away, and offering Erik a hand up. “Come on, let’s head back.”

He needed to tell him what Krystalinda explained, but… 

There was too much going on right now.

It could wait.

Just for a while.

~~

To his surprise, Erik was able to enjoy being in the Castle.

He was sure much of it was to do with the spell that made his appearance different to anyone who didn’t look too closely, giving him a sense of freedom, but so much more of that was his El.

He stayed close, as he always tended to, but this time, it felt different.

He stood close because he knew how Erik felt being here. He spoke more, keeping him from his thoughts.

They sat together at dinner, and Erik got to watch El choke on his first drink of cider.

“I’ve never had it before!” El said as everyone laughed, “I left home as soon as I was an adult.”

But as with most things, El got used to it quickly, and by the time they all retired for the night, El’s face was flushed and he was unsteady on his feet, leaning on Erik all the way to their room.

But when sleep came to Erik, El wasn’t there to drive away the nightmares.

He wasn’t flying this time.

He hadn’t been, for the last few nights. Instead, Erik found himself dropped into that horrible endless void near instantly.

Erik didn’t move.

He kept his eyes down, kept his hands at his sides.

The voices started.

Disembodied whispers that he couldn’t quite make out.

Running wouldn’t help.

Erik knew that by now.

So he waited.

He’d wake up soon enough.

He’d be safe in his dragon’s arms, and the fear from this nightmare would fade before El woke.

_ “Erik! Help me!”  _

Mia’s final scream for help echoed, both inside his mind and all around him.

There wasn’t anything he could’ve done. 

More words. All Mia’s, rising and overlapping until Erik felt like he was standing inside a swarm of bees.

_ Poor child.  _

Oh, good. Erik’s stomach twisted. He knew the voice meant this was all nearly over. But he still couldn’t stand how it always did.

_ Abandoned by her only family.  _

Erik’s eyes snapped open. That wasn’t what it usually-

Mia stood before him. Still frozen in time, one hand reaching out, begging for his help.

He didn’t abandon her. He left for her.

Erik wondered if she knew that.

If she knew he’d left at all.

_ You don’t have to be alone. Come with me, I’ll give you all you could ever ask for. _

The ground was slipping away from Erik. Turning to sinking mud under his feet. 

The stone-cold hands didn’t grab at Erik’s arms.

Instead, he saw them begin to creep along her frozen golden frame.

The noise cut out, and Erik began to sink. 

No matter how hard he tried to free himself, twisting in the muck, trying to drag himself onto solid ground that no longer existed, he only sank deeper.

He couldn’t breathe.

Mud filled his mouth and plugged his nose, and Erik began to drown in it.

This was only a dream, it couldn’t really hurt him, Erik continued to tell himself even as his lungs began to burn.

One last sound.

A scream. Not Mia’s, but purely animal and all too familiar, cut through Erik’s mind, he felt it deep within his chest, and the cacophony of noise began again.

And Erik woke, still mostly unable to breathe, but much more capable to fix his situation. 

At some point in the night, El had all but rolled on top of Erik, an arm slung over his throat, a tail coiled around his leg, and El crushing the air out of him.

Erik’s left arm and leg were both asleep, pins and needles beginning in his fingers.

“Get  _ off _ ,” Erik wheezed, trying to nudge his deadweight partner off of him, but only received some half-coherent mumbling and even  _ more  _ of his dragon squishing him. 

“I said  _ off _ , you great lump!” He could  _ just  _ reach El’s tail with his free arm, and gave it a quick tug.

It always managed to wake El, but it was a bit of a rude awakening. 

El snapped awake with a snort, pushing himself up from the mattress, thankfully horns away from Erik’s face, but he didn’t quite manage to dodge the wing that suddenly folded close.

If this was going to be what every morning from here on out would be like… Well, he’d get used to it eventually.

~~

Morning came and went, and when they were all but prepared to leave, Erik was stopped from leaving.

_ We can’t go yet!  _ El pulled Erik aside,  _ what about Mia? _

“Next time.” Erik said, glancing away, trying to see if there was anyone in earshot.

“But I can help her now, while we’re here.” El pointed out. “It could be simple, like how Serena used my blood for the child in Gondolia.”

It could very easily be that simple.

But it might also not.

“What I’m hiding, and Mia, they’re… They’re one in the same. I promised I’d tell you someday.” Erik said, looking down at their hands. “And I will. But- not today. We have all of the Orbs, now. We need to go to Arboria. After we do whatever it is we need to for you, then I’ll tell you.”

He couldn’t go back until they had  _ time  _ to figure out how to save her. If they tried El’s blood, and nothing happened.

Erik couldn’t walk away twice.

El wasn’t happy. He wasn’t trying to cover or hide his discontentment at all, but he didn’t challenge Erik. He just nodded. He trusted Erik, and he was right. They might not be gone very long at all, and truth be told, El really wanted to leave the ice and snow as soon as possible.

“Hey,” Erik smiled, and took one hand away to cup El’s cheek. “It’ll be okay. Just a few more days.”

Just a few more. It was a promise to El, to himself, and to Mia. 

Just a few more. Then, they’d have all the time in the world.

Erik pulled El down just ever so slightly to kiss.

_ Love you. _

El’s more negative feelings were gone in a flash, outweighed by the pure happiness he still felt whenever Erik said that. He broke away from Erik smiling.

“You promise?” 

“‘Course I do.” Erik said, “Soon as we’re done there, we’ll come back here. I’ll tell you everything.”

~~

The moment they passed from the Snærfelt and into the highlands, everything was green again.

It was still cold, but so much more bearable.

Erik saw the moment the warmer air hit El. 

The dragon’s shoulders sagged in relief as the frozen north’s cold claws ever so slightly released him. 

It should’ve been colder, as they drew higher into the mountains, climbing to Arboria, but it only got warmer, despite the mid-winter season.

A blessing of Yggdrasil for Her children, Erik supposed. A town living in Her shadow, but in a year-long springtime as well.

“O great and glorious Yggdrasil, whose holy heart is the source of all life, and to whom all life returns — we thank you for this gift.” An old man prayed aloud, standing between a couple, a small infant held in the woman’s arms. “The withered leaves fall from Your branches, and fresh buds spring forth in their place. One life ends, and another begins. O Mighty Mother Yggdrasil, we give our thanks, for this ever so blessed bud of Arboria. May he grow into a leaf worthy of the gift you have bestowed upon him.”

The three all bowed their heads in prayer, but the priest seemed to have taken notice of the group.

He took a glance over his shoulder, and stood straighter. “Ah! Our beloved twins return. And how long have you been loitering there, pray?”

Serena and Veronica stepper forward in unison, bowing slightly before speaking. “Good day, Holy Father. It’s ever so nice to see you again. And everybody else, of course. Everyone seems well.”

Now there was something definitely wrong, Erik decided. Serena was quiet, sometimes shy, but she never sounded  _ scared  _ to speak, never chose her words that carefully. 

But the “Holy Father” took no notice of her odd speech. Instead, he looked back and forth between the two sisters, as if he was just a  _ little  _ confused. “As do you, my dear. But Veronica… were you not… taller when we last met?”

Veronica was looking away, eyes closed and face tilted away from him. “Well…” she began, and quickly gave up. “It’s a long story.” Her discomfort vanished as quickly as it appeared, turning her eyes back to the priest with a determined look. “Anyway, it isn’t important right now! We did what you asked of us. We found the Luminary!”

At last, the people in the square realized they had been joined by more than just the twins. El stood tall, at the front of their procession, head held high, wings not unfolded, but not pressed small, either.

He was ready for whatever judgement they would pass on to him.

Or so he thought.

“The Luminary!” The new mother breathed, “Can it really be?”

“Ah, what a most blessed day!” The Holy Father exclaimed, “I am Benedictus. High Priest of Arboria, and I have waited my whole life to meet you.” The mounting discomfort Erik felt grew stronger in that moment, but he wasn’t sure exactly what it was directed at. “Not only do we welcome a most holy child, but the Luminary appears bearing the same marks! Now, Luminary, child, pray tell, how did you come by your dragon features?”

“‘Come by’?” El asked carefully, beginning to be overwhelmed by the group of people closing in around him. “I was born with them.”

Erik took a few steps in closer to his dragon, just to show his support if nothing else.

“That is auspicious news indeed!” The priest exclaimed, “, please come here.”

The young woman who had been praying with the elderly man did as he asked.

There was an infant swaddled in her arms, and just as El thought to ask what was wrong, he saw.

Pulling back the blanket it was draped with, Erik and El both saw the shimmering of scales, the color of new leaves.

“Yggdrasil has blessed us with this child’s gift, a good omen to your arrival.”

Erik didn’t know how to respond to that, and neither did El, so it seemed, who only managed to stammer a little, torn between so many different emotions at once. “For… for  _ my  _ arrival?” His thoughts were whirling with the information Krystalinda had given him. And here he stood, having it all challenged. “Are there more children like this?” He asked, one last little spark of hope that his people were not truly gone.

That was quickly dashed.

“No,” The priest answered, “Not within my life, at least.”

“Holy Father,” Serena quietly interrupted, “On our travels, we learned of a grave threat to this world. A being of pure evil, who plots to throw all of Erdrea into turmoil.”

“...I see.” Benedictus sighed, “I had held out a foolish hope that you would return empty-handed, that our world was not on the brink of peril, however…” He shook his head.

“We are not without hope.” Serena said, “We think that we may know how to defeat him. We have to go up to the World Tree. A great power awaits us there.”

Veronica stuck up her arm and waved, bringing attention down to her smaller stature. “There’s an altar somewhere in the First Forest. We think we can use the Orbs we gathered to reach Her.”

“Ah, it is all just as I dreamed it all those months ago.” Benedictus smiled, “It made no sense at the time, but I saw you all, six figures atop a rainbow bridge, heading to the World Tree, and beside you, a dragon unlike any other I’d ever seen… It was this vision that caused me to send you out on your quest in the first place. Surely it was a vision sent by Yggdrasil herself. All is now clear! You were climbing from the great altar, and now you must go.” Benedictus looked over his shoulder, and gestured to the grand building behind him. “The path to the First Forest lies beyond the cathedral. Please, when you are all ready, meet me there.”

As Benedictus left, Serena turned to the group. “Would you all mind very much if we waited just a small while? There are a few things I’d like to tie up.”

“Oh, honey don’t you worry!” Sylvando said, “I’m sure we’d all love the chance to look around a bit.”

“Aye,” Rab nodded, “You go on, lassie, we’ll all meet up here when it’s time to go.”

As everyone dispersed, Erik and El remained in the square.

Slowly, the crowd they drew faded out as well. 

“There anything you want to check out?” Erik asked, leaning back on his heels, watching El’s eyes follow the mother and her newborn dragonspawn. “I don’t really care too much.”

“Y-yeah.” El said, prying his eyes away, but unable to stop his thoughts. Two people, nearly two decades apart, born as dragonkind without any relation. No matter what Benedictus said, it felt like a bad omen. “Can we find somewhere private, and just wait?” El asked, glancing back at the Arborians still openly staring at him, “I… I don’t like it here.”

Erik knew the feeling. “Sure thing.”

It took a tick to find a place that wasn’t populated, but in the shadow of one of Arboria’s glaring white stone buildings, El spoke up.

“Can you… Can you tell me anything?” He asked, “I know you said you would but… I’m worried.”

Erik didn’t want to be upset. But tacking it on to everything that was already swirling inside his head was enough to tip him over the edge. “Can you just be patient? For me?” The words came out stronger than he intended.

“I-I’m sorry,” El stammered out, taken aback. “It’s just, ever since I woke up in the Snærfelt, you’ve been…”

“Been what?”

“Angry.” El answered. “And I don’t know if it’s at me, or-“

“I’m not mad at you.” Erik said.

“Then at what?” El asked, “I can feel it, eating away at you. I want to give you space, but I’m afraid for you, too.”

Erik bit the inside of his cheek. Everything inside him was rocking between being fine, and being anything but. He couldn’t control it. Couldn’t control his frustration. “I let you take the time you needed before you told me anything. Why can’t you leave me be?” His words came out harsh. The frustration coming to a point all directed at El, and spilling over to him as well, until they couldn’t tell who it came from.

“This is  _ different _ !” El snarled, feeling his dragon half rear its head. 

“Different, how?” Erik asked, his fingers digging into the wrists at his chest. “I didn’t ask you to explain anything to me until you were ready, is it too much to ask for the same courtesy?“

“What I had to tell you didn’t make me feel like there’s a hole in my gut! It didn’t make me feel constantly  _ ashamed  _ of myself! It didn’t make me want to hide from my people, and it didn’t have another life at stake!” El roared, “If I didn’t think it wasn’t killing you, I’d give you time!”

Erik’s fury bottomed out, and he went lax in El’s grip. He understood. But still… “I can’t tell you. I’m sorry.”

El didn’t respond right away. Kept his eyes on Erik’s face, waiting for something. For any explanation.

“I don’t want you to hate me.” 

“Erik-“ El’s voice reflected the emptiness in Erik’s chest. “I don’t - I couldn’t  _ hate  _ you.” He hesitated, and spoke the rest silently.  _ I promise, nothing you could say could make me stop loving you.  _ They didn’t have as much time as El had thought, and he did not want to waste what they did have fighting.

“You don’t know that. Please.” Erik said, “Just… Let me wait until this is over.”

El let go, and took a step back. 

“El, there you are!” Serena called from further around the path, pulling them both from their tumultuous thoughts, picking up the skirt of her dress and running to catch them both.

Reluctantly, Erik took a step back, and tried to straighten out the laces of his tunic before Serena got close enough to notice.

But even if he hadn’t, Erik doubted she would’ve seen his dishevelment. The second he was in reach she grabbed his hand, and started dragging him away, “A nest hatched while we were away! You’ll come see the babies, won’t you?”

El wasn’t given much choice, but before he started following, he offered his free hand to Erik.

An invitation to join, a peace offering.

Erik took it, and let Serena lead them both across the village.

The room she brought them to was blissfully warm after the cold outside. 

It was dim, but the light was still plenty to see the nest.

And this had not quite been what he was expecting from the word ‘nest.’ 

A mass of pillows and blankets covered the ground, the room lit with torches hidden away behind glass. 

And in the center of the mess, six little dragons lay, peeping away. 

El wasn’t sure exactly what to do.

Something inside him told him to turn around and leave.

These weren’t his whelps, and if he stuck around the mother wouldn’t be happy.

But the other half of him… It wanted to stay.

Serena pushed past him, and plucked one of the babies from the pile, holding it not unlike a cat. “The mother is out hunting right now,” she said, “We have plenty of time before she’s back.”

The baby began to peep louder.

El hadn’t ever heard a dragon before, and somehow, he knew what this baby was saying.

It felt safe.

It was happy.

“Here,” Serena pushed the whelp into his arms, and reached down to lift up another, hardly giving poor Erik any time at all to prepare for the fifteen pound ball of scales that latched on to him. “Aren’t they cute?”

The whelp he was holding didn’t look anything like his form.

It was a light purple color, and only had a single pair of horns, small and dull. It’s wings were rolled up to its back, just like a newly emerged butterfly.

Was he like this, ever?

Did Amber ever come home to find her infant son suddenly a tiny dragon?

The dragon quieted down as El held it carefully.

“Oh, how odd,” Serena said, scratching at its cheek, “normally they only quiet down when they’re fed, or when their mother is nearby.”

“That right?” Erik asked, and El felt the joke coming before Erik had a chance to make it.

_ I’m still mad at you,  _ he warned.

Erik grinned anyway, uncaring for any consequences. “I can’t believe you, El. All this time and you never told me.”

“Erik.”

“I think I have a right to know.” Erik said, “Did you think I wouldn’t step up?” Serena was laughing.

“ _ Erik. _ ” 

“I mean, I’d take responsibility as their father.” Erik moved the little dragon in his arms, looking at it closely, “Unless… El, am I  _ not  _ their father?”

El didn’t look amused, but his lip was twitching with barely suppressed laughter.

“Hey!” Veronica poked her head through the door, “We need to hurry up. El, the High Priest wants to speak with us.”

“Oh. Okay,” El said, gently depositing the baby back into its nest. “Are you coming, Erik?”

Erik wasn’t quite ready to set his own baby down. “Nah, I think I’ll just walk around a bit. Call me when it’s time to leave?”

El gave him a nod, and followed the twins outside, leaving Erik alone with the mountain of dragon whelps. 

It struck him that even after traveling with El for so long, he still knew only the basics about dragons.

He didn’t know how old the baby in his arms was, or what kind it is.

He didn’t know what it ate or how it grew.

He didn’t really need to know these things for El… But still, he should know  _ some  _ dragon biology, shouldn’t he?

There must be some information that would be relevant.

And if there was anywhere on Erdrea he could get that information, it would be Arboria.

Erik set the baby down amongst it’s brood, and left the nursery.

There had to be a library somewhere in town.

~~

There was one book that caught his eye. Old and worn, it’s colors dull and the spine coming undone, Erik would never have noticed it, but against the brightly colored and immaculate spines of all the other books, it stood out.

Erik took a quick glance around.

No one was looking at him, and the few people that inhabited the small library were too engrossed in their own tomes.

Carefully taking the small book from the shelf, Erik glances over the cover.

_ Dragon Keeping _

_ Heart and Happiness _

Nothing more, nothing less.

Flipping through and skimming the first few pages, Erik found that it wasn’t a reference book at all, but an old, faded journal.

_ Erik, we need to go. _ El’s voice echoed down to him.

Erik closed the book, but stopped just shy of putting it back.

With the age of the paper and the faded ink, the person who had originally written in its pages had to be long gone.

He didn’t know what about the little volume made him want it so badly, but surely Arboria wouldn’t miss it.

Tucking it carefully into his tunic, Erik turned to leave, as calm and casual as he had entered, not a glance spared for him as he left.

He’d have time to read the book, later.

~~

Rab fell behind as they neared the last stretch to the altar. 

El and Jade both were at his side then, as he stumbled, huffing in breath as his old body protested. “Och, all this trudging up hills is playing havoc with my auld bones…”

“We’ll slow down.” El said, “There isn’t any reason-“

“I’ll be fine!” Rab said, forcing himself straight, and Erik winced at the audible cracking in his spine, and he wasn’t the only one wincing.

“Ohh, there’s no need to tire yourself out, darling.” Sylvando said, “I think we’re all feeling a bit winded, now. Let’s all just call it a night, eh?”

Erik wasn’t feeling tired yet at all, even as the sun began to set, his nerves kept him alert.

But Sylv was right.

Rab wasn’t the only one troubled with the hike. She was doing her best to hide it, but Veronica was struggling, her small legs working overtime to keep up with the adults around her.

Rolling his shoulders and trying to pop the tension in his neck, Erik said, “Finally! I’m sure there’s a place we can make camp around here somewhere. You good with that, El?”

El gave a quick nod, and let Jade assist Rab. 

There was a clearing just up ahead, right before the stream, plenty of room to start their fire and pitch their tents.

The moon was high in the sky by the time everyone had finished their part of setting up, and they all sat around on the soft grass, a pot sitting over the flames.

The stew bubbling inside was all vegetables.

El had offered to take a look around and find something to hunt, but Erik had told him to sit back down. 

This forest was different in flora, and there wasn’t any reason to believe it’s wildlife wouldn’t be as well.

There wasn’t any reason for them to split up.

Rab was pressing the heels of his hands to his knees, still pained, and in a way that none of their spells could fix.

Erik felt pity for the poor old man. He should be retired somewhere, enjoying the quiet. And yet his life had led him back to the frontlines. 

Hopefully after this, he could find a place to settle.

“So,” Veronica broke the quiet, “We’ll finally be heading up to Yggdrasil tomorrow. I can’t help but feel a little nervous.”

Erik knew the feeling, but still… Seeing Veronica stare up at the World Tree, and speak truly about her fear… It made his anxiety all the worse.

One by one, they all turned to look at the soft green glow emanating from high above. 

“Serena, why don’t you play that song?” Veronica suggested, as the quiet of the forest became too much to bear. “The one you always used to play, when we were both children.”

Serena’s eyes went soft, and she pulled her harp into her lap, and light notes began to drift in the air.

Erik found a wing draping just ever closer to his back, and he leaned into it.

“Yggdrasil looks so beautiful at night…” Jade said, “It’s strange to think that each of our lives is a leaf on one of Her branches.”

A leaf buds when a life is born, and a leaf withers when a life is lost. It seems so simple in concept but… What happens to the leaves belonging to lives like Veronica’s? Like Mia’s?

Had their leaves reversed? Frozen in time?

It made him wonder about his own leaf.

What it must look like.

Warped, probably. Spotted or holed, as if chewed on by an insect. Something to match how he felt inside.

Sensing the negative turn of his thoughts, El wrapped an arm around his back, pulling him in closer.

That lovely warmth… 

“Yeah.” Erik breathed, looking away from Yggdrasil’s glow, and settling into El’s. 

Close like this… It felt like everything would be okay.

“Jade?” El said, and Erik turned his eyes to see the princess, looking into the dirt. “Are you alight?”

“I’m sorry,” Jade said, “I was just thinking… That river by Dundrasil, the one that carried you to Cobblestone, that river begins here, under Yggdrasil. Do you think it’s possible that it was Her plan all along for it to carry you there? Perhaps She knew that you would be safer there, than you were with me…”

Erik didn’t need a bond with her to know the dark pit she was looking into. 

El’s hold on him went tense. He still didn’t know how to be around these two.

He knew they were friends, yes. He knew he could trust them both with his life, and yet… He wasn’t their family. Not yet.

But before El could unscramble his thoughts enough to respond, Jade had moved on. “Oh, you play an instrument too, Veronica?”

Veronica startled, then shook her head. “No. The High Priest gave it to me. Said it would…  _ Help  _ us. Said it belonged to Serenica. Apparently she left it behind in Arboria.”

El withdrew his arm from Erik’s side, and drew away.

“I just… need some air.” El said as he pushed himself up from the earth. “I won’t be long.”

No one spoke as he left the ring of firelight. No one knew what to say.

How do you console someone about to meet the destiny that had been laid out for them before they could even walk?

Erik didn’t know where to begin, so he only stayed seated, poking at the logs on the fire, keeping the blaze going strong. 

El would call him if he needed help.

Moments passed, and everyone began to head to sleep. 

They had much to do in the morning, and it was likely it would be a while before they’d be able to sleep.

Erik would wait for El. Keep the fire stoked, and the camp warm.

“Erik, dear?” Sylvando spoke up from where they still sat, the last one up, and Erik looked away from the fire to listen. “Don’t you think you should go with him?”

“Why?” Erik asked, letting the fire poker settle on the dirt. “He said he wanted some air.”

“Hm!” Sylv huffed at him, “You don’t have a single romantic bone in your body. He’s upset, you’re his boyfriend, go help him!”

Erik’s face colored. “I-I’m not his-“

“Partner, then. Whatever you call it,” Sylvando continued on, “It doesn’t matter, we all know anyway. Just go on, will you?”

Erik drummed his fingers on the fallen log he was on. He knew El was upset, but he did say he wanted to be alone. “Go on, darling. You’re wasting moonlight.”

If for no other reason than to get away from their sparkly eyes and knowing smile, Erik grabbed his pack and got up, following his bond.

El had gone further than Erik had thought. He nearly tripped over a tree root in the darkness, and ended up half-falling, half-sliding down a muddy incline before he caught up to his dragon.

And really,  _ how  _ had El done that? Was night-vision a conveniently unmentioned one of his abilities, now? 

But eventually, Erik did find him.

Sitting up against an outcropping of rock, on the banks of a waterfall basin, lit by the blue glow of one of the first forests odd flowers.

He had his knees pulled to his chest, and his tail wrapped around his ankles, the spine on the end tapping against the ground.

“You couldn’t have just stayed close?” Erik said, aiming for a joking tone of voice. “I nearly broke my ass twice trying to find you.”

“‘M sorry.” El said, “I didn’t mean to.” 

The bond was heavy with El’s discomfort. 

“Is it what Jade said?” Erik asked, “You know she doesn’t mean anything by it. She-“

“It’s Cobblestone.” El said. 

Of course. El hid it well, most of the time, but even so… 

Erik couldn’t begin to grasp what that loss must feel like. What it must be like, to have to go months on months not knowing if his family is alive or dead, not knowing if they are safe or well… 

But that wasn’t all it was.

Erik settles himself next to El, bumping his shoulder into his dragon’s, and waits. If El wants to talk, he’ll talk. If he wants to be close, then he’ll be close.

“I know I’m their family.” El said, “And I know they mean well, but…” El shrugged, and dragged his hand over his face. “But they  _ aren’t mine _ . Jade… Jade is nice. She’s a good friend, and Rab is kind to me. But I already had a sister, and a grandfather. I don’t need to replace them.”

“I don’t know much about family.” Erik offered, “All I had -have, is Mia, and I fucked that up pretty well.” He smiled wryly. “But I know that you can have more than one sister, and people typically have at least two grandfathers. You aren’t replacing the ones you already have by finding new ones.”

El shrugged again, and moved his wings about, trying to wrap one around Erik. “I know. But it doesn’t always feel that way. They’re trying, I know, but Jade keeps expecting to be something I’m not, something I don’t even know how to be, and I know it must be hard for him, but Rab still calls me ‘Elwood.’

“Give it time.” Erik said. “Either you’ll change or they will.”

“I’m sorry.” El said, his tone changing, “I’m sorry I yelled at you in Arboria. Whether or not you tell me at all is up to you. I shouldn’t try to pry-“

“No, El.” Erik interrupted, “You were mad because you were worried. That’s not  _ bad _ . I promised I’d tell you, and I will. Just - let’s get this over with first, okay? Can… Can we pretend like there’s nothing wrong, just for a few more days?”

“Yeah.” El said, “We can.”

He still sounded so upset, and Erik still felt every negative thing running through him. He felt so  _ lonely _ , even here with Erik, with their whole team.

“You’re not alone, Firefly.” Erik said, taking the initiative to get El closer, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, and letting him rest his head against Erik’s shoulder, ignoring the horn pressing into his skin. It was still hard to say out loud, as if giving voice to it would shatter it.  _ I love you, and I’m not leaving you behind. _

~~

The morning dawned bright and clear, and the frost on the ground crunched under their shoes.

Erik’s eyes felt fuzzy from his lack of sleep, but his mind was clear.

This was it, what would hopefully be the last day of their journey.

He could see the altar through the morning mist, a free-flowing waterfall circling it, falling all the way from Yggdrasil herself.

The stone structure almost seemed out of place, as if it belonged somewhere else, and had been plucked and moved to this forest untouched by man.

From the top of the spiraling mountain, the lands of Edrea stretched all around them.

Standing here, in the center of their land, already seeing so much…

Every corner of their world must be visible from Yggdrasil.

If someone had told him years ago that he would one day be standing right below Her, that he would be climbing to Her boughs… Well, it was happening at this moment and he still could hardly believe it.

El came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. The rainbough strapped to his waist was glowing one last time.

“You ready for this?” Erik asked.

“Never.” El said simply, but took that first step forward anyway. 

Part of him expected everything to change the moment El set foot on the altar, but nothing changed.

“There’s nothing else like this in the forest,” Erik said, “This has to be it, right?”

“Go on, laddie,” Rab said, “Get the Orbs out, we’ll see what happens.”

El nodded, and one by one drew the six orbs from his pack.

They began to float on their own, circling in the air around them all before settling on the six identical structures on each corner of the altar.

Colored light shot to the sky, blinding for an instant before it all condensed together, shooting from the edge of the platform, and twisting upwards into the sky, forming a bridge.

Erik had expected the altar itself to move, to carry them up to Yggdrasil, but of course they’d be walking up a needlessly twisting bridge instead.

But, onwards and upwards. 

Not one of them had the time to lament the long walk ahead.

The forest they set foot in was unlike any Erik had seen before, pulled straight from a storybook.

Everything was fresh and green, even in the cold of winter, and despite their altitude, it was as warm as the spring thaw. 

If Erik had thought the flora on the land below had been odd… Glowing plants of all shapes and colors, things that would be screaming poison down below may carry unthinkably powerful benefits here, if they only had the time to stop and test them.

Vines and ferns hung from the thick roots and branches crossing all around, and the air was still.

The babble of a small brook could be heard as it rushed along its narrow banks underneath their feet, running clear and fast, but not a single living thing could be seen on its bed. Not a fish, tadpole, or even snail.

For the Tree of Life… It felt rather empty to Erik.

The walk across the branches was easy.

Perhaps too easy. Perhaps that was what was making his stomach churn with fear.

Nearly everything had been a challenge, an obstacle, a brush with death, so why shouldn’t this?

At last Erik saw something living… or close to it, at least.

Golden wisps, glowing with butterfly wings and leaving trails of light behind them drifted through the air.

Souls arriving back home, or maybe new ones departing.

They came to a draping of thick ferns, covering a clear hollow.

And they all knew at once, that this was it.

El hesitated at the mouth, but Erik stood beside him.

They started this together, and they would end it together.

As the moss parted for them to walk through, another golden ball of light greeted them.

But this one dwarfed everything else.

Nearly twice Erik’s height, and so far around that he couldn’t see what lay behind.

And crossing all over it, were thick green vines, almost as if they were holding it in place, or just keeping it safe.

This is where the Tree of Life began to feel like its namesake. Flowers bloomed on the wood around them, plants unlike any other growing tall, and warmth like a sunbeam all around.

They all fanned out around the spectacle, drinking it in.

“So this is the Heart of Yggdrasil?” Jade asked, breaking their unspoken vow of silence in a low voice, “It’s bigger than I thought it would be.” 

Erik began to feel El’s apprehension in full. His hand found the small of El’s back, but he didn’t try to look away from the Heart. “It is the source of all life. It’s not exactly going to be small now, is it?”

Sylvando was the first to step forward, to break the spell the sight had put over them all. “It’s so… fascinating… I’m sort of scared, but… I want to touch it.” 

Erik couldn’t foresee an outcome that didn’t end in a slap from a vine or other such defensive measures from the tree, but he didn’t make any attempt to stop the jester.

The instant their hand came in contact with the glow of the Heart, the smallest electrical zap pulsed, and Sylvando drew back in shock. “Oh, well that’s not very nice! The naughty thing gave me a shock!”

“Aye, and so it should!” Rab said, “I don’t quite know what you expected. I doubt the World Tree would let just anyone touch Her holiest of holies.” Inside the heart, a sword floated in a smaller blue glow, a perfectly round red gem embedded to the center of the guard and pommel, with golden detailing all over the blade, inscriptions that Erik could not read. “After all, only he can wield the weapon destined to destroy the darkness. The Sword of Light.” Rab turned to his grandson, “The time is now, laddie - time to reach into the Heart and claim your birthright.”

El hesitated as Rab continued, “Only you can do it. Only you can save our world.”

That wasn’t going to win anyone any favor, to terrify the dragon. With the flat of his hand, Erik pushed El forward to Yggdrasil’s heart.  _ Go on, partner. I believe in you. _

Erik pushed away his fear, and smiled for his dragon.

This was the last leg of their journey. After this, El would have everything he needed as the Luminary. Everything he needed to stop Mordegon, and whatever he was planning.

El nearly stumbled, glancing over his shoulder at Erik, but caught himself and climbed the vines leading to Yggdrasil’s heart. El’s anxiety seemed to fade as he grew closer to the heart, replaced with determination.

As he approached his hand began to glow, and the vines slithered away, leaving the sword unprotected.

The anxiety inside Erik climbed higher, and took a sudden peak.

And with a sudden clarity, Erik realized this wasn’t just his own overactive imagination.

Behind them, a spell was cast.

Erik shouted, but it was too late.

He wasn’t fast enough to take the hit, this time.

This time, the spell hit its mark.

Yggdrasil protected Her heart, and El fell to the ground.

Erik knew this pain.

He’d felt it firsthand himself, all the way back in Gondolia.

He knew the way the dark magic twisted through your veins, searching and spreading like the roots of a diseased tree.

Erik spun back, in time with the rest of their party in time to see their attacker smile. El was down, but he wasn’t out, Erik could feel his pain, but knew that he wasn’t about to be counted out.

“Damn you, Jasper!” Erik spat, “How did you find us?”

“ _ Find you _ ?” Jasper scoffed, “Did you witless vermin not realize? I’ve been following you all along.”

Jade took her opportunity to strike, arching through the air to land a kick to Jasper’s skull, but right before the heel of her boot could make contact, a purple barrier blocked her, stopping her momentum.

She twisted back, landing hard on her knees just before it could deal any damage. “What was that?” She asked no one in particular, holding her arms up to guard whatever he may deal out next.

“Now, now, Princess.” Jasper said condescendingly, “Such boorish behavior hardly befits one of your standing. Do you not see that you are all utterly powerless to stop me?” He held a purple orb aloft, similar to the ones they had all spent the past half year gathering, but at the same time so much different. A wave erupted from its surface, and hit them all.

Erik found every muscle in his body locked in place, and he was unable to stop himself from hitting the ground, paralyzed, alongside each of his comrades. 

Only El was missed, staggering to his feet, and shakily drawing his sword.

He was what was left between Jasper, and the very life force of the world, and all Erik found to say was-

_ Run! _

“Now, tremble before me! Your sacrifice shall pave my way to glory!”Jasper said, pointing his own blade to the Luminary, “Come, all of you! On your feet! The Tree of Life shall be your final resting place.” The orb began to glow anew, encasing Jasper.

El drew near, walking right by where Erik lay.  _ I said  _ run _ , El! Go! _ Erik begged, knowing that El couldn’t take Jasper on his own like this.  _ You promised! No more senseless heroics! _

El held his blade across his body as a shield. He was prepared to do anything to keep them all safe.  _ And you promised no more sacrifices.  _ El said,  _ Looks like we’ve both broken that promise, now. _

Erik could hardly bear to watch. El took hit after hit, the glow around Jasper stopping El’s blades before they could strike, but he didn’t stop.

Not until, Jasper held the orb aloft one last time, and a deep blue light struck through El’s middle.

He staggered, all his weight held up on his sword, the blade plunged into the earth, until he couldn’t even hold on to it any longer, the spell continuing to break him down, pulse after pulse of malice slicing through him.

El was down again, and Erik couldn’t move to him. 

Jasper walked past their bodies, not sparing a thought for those he had just cut down.

“So this is the heart of Yggdrasil! Whosoever controls it, controls the world… or so they say.”

He reached out a hand, and Erik willed him to touch it.

_ Go ahead!  _ He begged whatever god would listen, hoping the shock it gave Sylv would hit Jasper tenfold.

But before he could touch it-

“Not one step further, Jasper!” Hendrik’s voice rang out through the clearing. “Now you see it with your own eyes, sire — he is no longer himself! The darkness has him entirely in its thrall.” 

The king made no response, and only watched carefully as Hendrick continued his speech.

“ _ No-“  _ Erik watched helplessly as the King raised a hand, and brought Hendrik to the ground, a purple glow to match Jasper’s emanating from his form, the glow morphing, leaving the King in the dust, and becoming solid.

A man with horns but no tail, purple skin but no scales, approached Jasper, thanking him for his work.

“It is… an honor to serve you, as always.” Jasper said, offering up a hand and dropping to one knee, “Lord Mordegon.”

With a wave of his staff, a red glow enveloped El, and rose him from the grass.

He did not fight, did not so much as twitch a finger, until Mordegon moved again.

Black magic rose like flames around his hand, and with a sickening grin, his hand plunged into El’s chest.

Erik suddenly felt as if he was going to be ill.

El’s  _ scream _ \- something pulled from his worst nightmares, that made his hair stand on end, and his ears ring.

If he could just  _ get up! _

The magic tore all the way through El, bursting from between his wings.

Erik felt as if the wind had been knocked from him. 

But he felt no pain.

Even as El began to writhe, wings flaring out claws digging into Mordegon’s arm and fighting for freedom, he felt nothing.

Only static echoed.

And even that faded as El’s arms went lax at his sides, and his wings went limp.

Mordegon pulled his fist away, holding something glowing and blue in his fist. “So this is the power of the Luminary…”

He dropped El without a thought, Erik’s dragon crumpling to the ground.

_ El!  _ Against the blistering wind, Erik dragged himself to where El lay, unmoving, deep red pouring from the jagged wound on his back.

Erik pressed down against the open wound, desperately trying to staunch the blood flow, but he found himself making no difference.

Burning hot crimson still pumped around his fingers, and it was soaking into the soil below.

They couldn’t…

Erik couldn’t lose him here.

All the bullshit he’d managed to pull El safely from…

All the way from underground in Heliodor to the frozen Snærfelt, it  _ couldn’t  _ all have been for nothing!

The bleeding turned sluggish, but from how it pooled around El’s prone form, from the sickly parlor to his skin, from the fact that Erik couldn’t feel a single thing from his dragon-

He knew it wasn’t from his efforts.

“Almighty Yggdrasil!” Mordegon commanded, rising high above them, “Yield your power to me!”

So many things happened in that single heartbeat.

The daylight around them turned dark, leaves that should have been fresh and green fluttered around them, dry and dead, and in a single instant, everything was gone.


	10. Things That Are, and Things that Never Were

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On his person he found only two possessions.
> 
> A small necklace, a golden chain and a beautifully crafted emerald pendant, and a small hand-written journal about dragons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter this time than these have been, but the word count should increase back up in another couple chapters.

“Excuse me, ma’am.”

The voice drew Amber away from her work. This had better be important. She had clothes to mend and meals to cook for the hungry soldiers. If this was just another waste of time-

It was the knight that brought her news of her boy. Amber recognized the man immediately. After all, not many people had purple hair like he did.

She tried not to get her hopes up.

He may just be needing some work done, or an extra set of hands.

It was unlikely he would have any news for her-

He got to his knees, hands and face pointed towards the ground in apology.

Amber knew right away what was to come.

“The Luminary fell in battle atop Yggdrasil.” He said, head lowered close to the bloodied soil. “It was a noble death, in an effort to save his companions, your boy would have done you proud.”

Amber felt the ground shift beneath her feet.

All her fears, coming true in a single moment.

She was afraid of the answer, but she needed to know. “Did he suffer?” Her voice cracked.

“No, ma’am.” Hendrik lied. 

Amber didn’t know if she could handle the sight, but to calm the horrible images floating in her mind, to see the truth so that she would not imagine the worst… “Where-“ She stopped, steeling herself. “Where is he?”

He still did not raise his head. “My apologies. I do not know. I failed to reach Yggdrasil in time, and I failed to even bring him back to you for burial.”

This knight, Hendrik… 

Amber took in a shuddering breath, and forced down her grief, her fears.

There would be time for that later.

But right now there were people that needed them both.

“You quit that kind of talk this instant, young man.” Amber said, using the same tone of voice she once needed to use on an unruly young dragon. Hendrik finally looked back up. “You are the only reason we are all standing here today.”

“Even so-“

“Hold your tongue, I am  _ not  _ finished.” Amber crossed her arms, “We have much work to do, and if I catch you moping instead, we are going to have  _ some trouble _ , do you understand?”

“Miss-“

“I asked you a question.”

The knight looked stunned. It was good to see that he did indeed have more than just the one expression. “Yes, ma’am.” At last, Hendrik stood. He almost looked like he was going to say something more, but Amber gave him a  _ look _ , and he said nothing.

As he turned to join his battalion, Amber took the last word.

“I don’t believe he’s gone.” She spoke strongly, to convince herself. “I won’t. Not until you bring me a body.”

Hendrik stilled mid-stride. “I understand.”

Looking around at what was once her home, Amber found herself a spot, and settled down.

Torches burned all around, signal flames waiting to be set. 

She’d lit her lantern, and El would follow it’s light home.

~~

The sounds and smells from the luau drifted up the cliff face to where Erik and El sat to watch.

The rest of their party had joined in to search for Kainoa, but until he was found, El was to stay hidden. 

If one woman's story could villainize mermaids for generations, he didn’t want to find out what the sight of him would provoke. 

It made Erik feel sick all over again. El was the one that saved the fishermen. He was the one that dealt the killing blow to the tentacular. He deserved to be down there with everyone else, celebrating.

Erik didn’t need their bond to tell how lonely El felt in that moment.

He knew the feeling all too well.

“You’ll be down there, someday.” Erik said. 

El shifted where he sat, and Erik saw the tip of an ear twitch. 

“I knew I wouldn’t ever be able to go wherever I wanted.” El confessed, “I knew that people would be afraid of me, or that they’d want to hurt me. I understood. So why…” He trailed off, and Erik waited for him to finish. “Why don’t I, anymore?”

There wasn’t any easy answer. 

There wasn’t any magic word that Erik could say to make him feel better, but at the least, he could try.

“Someday,” Erik began, “We’ll come back. And you’ll be able to go wherever you want, whenever you want.”

“Yeah?” El didn’t sound convinced, but he did feel just a little better.

“Yeah,” Erik said, “I promise.”

“Good!” Mia said, lounging back on the ground. One leg crossed over the other, leaving the clean-up to Erik.

But that was okay.

It had been a long day, they were both exhausted, and she deserved her rest.

The splintered remains of the smashed barrel wouldn’t be too hard to clean up.

Not with visions of the future in his mind, idyllic plans just waiting to be forged.

The splinters and cuts now would be worth it, for the open seas ahead… 

The memories faded, and Erik was back in reality.

When Erik watched Mia freeze, when she turned to solid gold and he found himself powerless to save her, Erik thought that he couldn’t possibly feel worse.

When Erik left what little he had of a home, and found that he could only make it through scraping and living as a thief, he thought that he couldn’t feel any lower.

When Erik met El, little by little, he started feeling better. He started feeling human again. 

When Erik loved El, almost everything felt right. The gaping black hole in his chest was steadily being burned away.

But El was gone.

Erik felt no heat in his chest, felt no echos to his emotions, felt no presence no matter how hard he tried to reach for it.

Once again, Erik was alone.

But this time, faith couldn’t get him through.

The one person he could find faith in was dead.

Erik saw him fall. Saw him die without so much as raising a hand to his murderer.

He felt his light be extinguished, he felt his spirit fade away.

Erik didn’t know why he was still alive.

He didn’t understand why the monsters hadn’t killed him, why he was allowed to lay here and rot away.

He wasn’t any threat.

Not anymore.

Not when he didn’t even have the strength to take his knife and-

He couldn’t.

The weapon burned a hole through his tunic from where it was tied.

El had made it for him.

He couldn’t ever… Not with this gift.

He was too weak.

Too weak to even die on his own terms.

If he’d just listened to himself, if he’d stopped El from climbing that bridge, told  _ anyone _ about his gut feeling… He very well could still be alive. They might all have been safe.

But instead… El was dead, and for all he knew so was everyone else.

Erik curled in on himself wretchedly as fresh pain squeezed his heart.

It was like an open wound, left to fester.

“Erik,” The healslime Healijah floated close again, its stingers inches from Erik’s hair.

He didn’t bother to tell the thing to get lost again.

It hadn’t worked the first fifty times, it wouldn’t work now. “Would El want you to mope like this? Don’t you think he’d want you to fight?”

A spark of anger. The first thing Erik had felt in days that wasn’t the hollow aching. 

But it still wasn’t quite enough.

“It doesn’t matter what El would want.” Erik barked out, “He’s  _ dead _ .” And the dead don’t want for much.

“How do you know for sure?” Healijah prompted, “You might not feel the bond, but Erdrea is a big place. Who knows where he could be!”

“It’s not about the bond.” Erik said, his annoyance growing ever stronger. Even allowing him the energy to turn over to glare at the creature. “I watched him die. You don’t-“ Whatever that spell was, it went right through him. Tore through flesh and bone like parchment. His little burst of strength ebbed. “You can’t survive…” El’s blood still stained his hands, the bright red dried to rust. He bled out on the forest floor of Yggdrasil.

What a way for the Luminary to go.

“You didn’t see.”

“Oh, and you saw everything, did you?” Two of Healijah’s stingers bent, like he was mimicking a human putting their hands on their hips. “You saw what happened after the fall? To him, to your friends? Then tell me, what happened to them all? How did you get here?”

Erik ignored the bothersome monster. It would give up eventually.

Then maybe Erik could find some peace in the quiet dark.

“Imagine if Mia could see you now!” 

A cold shock struck like lightning through Erik’s body, and he twisted around to stare at the monster. “How do you…” It was one thing that it knew El’s name.

The monsters that came to sneer at him all knew the Luminary’s name. They all knew who he was, but… Not once had his sister’s name been uttered.

“If you want answers, you’ll have to go find them yourself!” Healijah proclaimed, floating in place, the same clueless look that all slimes shared on his face.

Erik couldn’t glean a single bit of information from it.

But it  _ had  _ information. It knew about Mia, and that could very well mean that all it’s talk was more than the meaningless dribble that Erik had thought it was.

He tried to grab the monster. He wanted to yell and shake it, demand everything it knew, but it slid through his fingers like… Well, like slime.

Healijah let out a too-human  _ eep _ ! And drifted across the little cell. 

“Wait!” Erik begged, getting to his knees. 

He felt weak. Hardly having moved in all the countless days since he’d been brought here. Even the little bit now had sent his heart to pumping, his breath lost. “You- Where is El?”

Healijah bobbed in place, considering its options.

Erik was weak, but he would expend every last scrap he had to give if it made this thing talk. 

“ _ Please _ ,” Erik begged, the swirl of hopelessness inside him being chipped away at. “If you know…” 

Healijah came close, and reached out a single stinger.

As the stinger touched between his eyebrows, Erik felt weightless.

Though he did not move, the scenery around him shifted.

It dropped him straight through the ground, and air bubbled around them as the air changed to seawater.

As they cleared, Erik saw his dragon, laid still on a Nautican bed. Merpeople and sea creatures alike weaved around him as the water turned red.

Healing magic swirled around them, and El glowed bright with it.

“He fights for his life,” Healijah said, “Even as all is left to the hands of fate.” The glow around El faded, but Erik couldn’t get a good look. “But he fights nonetheless. Do you plan to abandon him, and waste away here?”

_ No _ . 

Erik couldn’t abandon him. If there was any chance he was going to survive, if there was any way that the mermaids had been able to revive him… Erik had already lost enough time. 

Erik had always dreamed of seeing the world. 

Learning about what all was out there to be seen, what there was to do.

But he never dreamed it quite like this.

It was cold out this morning, Erik’s breath fogging in the air before him.

The sky was nearly white, the pale blue hidden away behind rippling white clouds, that would soon be stained orange and pink with the approaching dawn.

Frosted grass crunched under his shoes as he lit the campfire, settling their pot on the hook and tossing in a handful of tea leaves.

It was a bit early to start the brew, but they would have an early start to make today, as long as one of them 

managed to drag El away from the warm tent.

But for now, he was content to wait in the quiet. 

Erik had always been a light sleeper, an early riser. 

He hadn’t had a choice while he served the Vikings, and sleeping light was the difference between life and death when one lived on the streets.

But he found it to be of a different benefit these days.

Never before had he the space, the freedom, to get up in the morning and simply relax.

To enjoy his morning meal, to listen to the birdsong. 

The scent of the tea began to overtake that of the budding flowers, and Erik ladled himself a mug full.

He could always add more water to dampen it down if it got too strong before the others woke.

He held the cup just below his chin, and let the steam warm his face.

It was odd, being on the road like this and having the luxury of hot tea every morning. Erik would’ve thought it an unnecessary expense, but Sylvando was all too happy to spend his own money on whatever the merchants they passed had to offer, and even happier to share. 

I don’t understand you. Erik heard his dragon’s voice, and turned to see just his head poking from between the tent flaps, eyes still bleary with sleep. 

Yeah? Erik asked, not trying to fight the smile El’s pout caused. And why’s that?

His dragon forced his way past the last barrier between himself and the cold of the morning, settling down next to Erik, but closer to the fire.

“‘S too cold.” He muttered, his voice slurred from sleep. “‘S too early.”

“You don’t have to join me, you know.” Erik said, “I was going to let you sleep.”

“I want to.” El said, warming Erik more than the fire. “Don’t get much time to ourselves, anymore.”

They didn’t, but it was okay. They were still close. They still got to walk side by side, and sleep back to back. 

They had each other.

But ‘when this is over’ became a sort of mantra for them, when things get rough.

_ When this is over _ they would have each other.

_ When this is over _ they would have the world.

_ When this is over, _ they could figure out where to go.

But for now… Erik filled another mug, and handed it over.

But the hands that took it weren’t scaled. They were smaller, lighter. The nails were dirty and chipped, and the tips rosy from the cold.

The pale skin was marred by a hand-shaped bruise around the wrist.

“Drink up.” Erik said. The heat would do her well. They’d had it a bit tougher as of late, the hauls brought in smaller, which made tempers shorter.

His own arms were littered with marks, and the muscles protested as he moved.

He’d been saving up little bits he managed to sneak from the food store, and he’d planned to keep it hidden just a while longer… but he felt like today warranted them a little bit of comfort.

He’d saved up enough of the pilfered tea leaves for them to give it a try. 

The tea he made for the Chief always smelled so nice, so Erik was disappointed by the mostly bitter taste.

But that was okay. They had other things, too. Erik had stashed away some stale bread, had managed to sneak out some dried fruit.

Things would look up, soon. Mia’s birthday was coming up, soon. Soon they’d both be old enough to sneak out and not look back. He would find a way to hitch a ride with a trader, or stow away with a ferry somewhere else.

From there, they’d be free to do whatever they wanted.

“No.” Erik said aloud in the empty cell, and got shakily to his feet. His head spun, and his stomach ached from his lack of food, but he’d been in this situation before. He could survive a little hunger. “How do I get out of here?”

The healslime gave a triumphant little laugh, “Good to see you back to your senses!”

_ Back to his senses _ ? That wasn’t what Erik would describe this as. 

This was madness. 

Wherever he was, whatever this place was, it was crawling with monsters. He’d need a miracle to escape.

A miracle, and all he had was a dagger.

Grasping the handle, Erik pulled it from his waist, but with it, something small and shimmery clattered to the ground.

A golden chain, and a beautifully crafted green pendant.

El’s heirloom necklace. 

He hadn’t realized he still carried it on his person. Surely at some point El had taken it back?

But here it was, by his feet.

“What’s that, then?” Healijah piped up, floating just out of sight as Erik picked the jewel back up, thanking whatever of Yggdrasil’s grace was left that it hadn’t broken.

“El’s.” Erik answered, tucking the necklace back away for safekeeping, just as he had done months ago, when El was just the Luminary, just a dragon, and Erik was just along for the ride. Exactly how long had it been, now? He couldn’t tell time trapped in here, and as long as he didn’t know where he was, he couldn’t tell from the local climate.

“He must be very important to you.” The slime observed, not asking.

But Erik answered anyway. “More than almost anyone else.” And that’s why he was trying again, just one effort to break free. Just in case there was still a dragon that needed him, just in case there was still a dragon to return this to.

“Then we’d best get moving!” Healijah said, just as chipper as he always seemed to be, heading for the door and casting a spell.

“I don’t understand why you’re helping me.” Erik said as Healijah unlocked the cell door. He didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth but… He didn’t want to walk right into a trap, either. “Why is a monster helping a human?”

“If you ask me,” The slime said as they saw the tunnel was clear, “Humans… Monsters… They all think too much about what makes us different. I think we should focus on what’s the same.”

“‘The same’?” Erik asked, looking at his gleeful, floating, tentacled, bright blue -okay, that part was the same- companion. “What about us is the same?”

The slime floated about in the small space. “We all come from Yggdrasil, and to Yggdrasil we return.” A simple prayer, one Erik had heard all his life, but the first time he heard it come from the mouth of a monster. “There are good monsters, and bad ones, just as there are good humans, and bad ones. But in the end, we are all the same.”

Maybe once, but not anymore.

There wasn’t a Yggdrasil to guide souls anymore. Who knew where they were all headed, now?

“ _ Wait! _ ” Healijah stopped Erik in his tracks, who went silent to listen.

Just up ahead, there were voices.

Erik took only a second to chastise himself for not catching them first. 

The voices were clear, even if they carried the odd speech patterns that most monsters did.

“How much longer are we gonna have to put up with this stinking human?” The first one asked, “It isn’t even any fun! It doesn’t react to anything I say, doesn’t even beg for freedom.” 

“Don’t let the higher ups hear you whining!” The second one said, though it took a moment for Erik to decipher the dragon’s speech. He could hardly believe that El and this thing could be classified under the same name. “If somehow the Luminary is still alive… We’ll be needing his bondmate. Kill him, and the Luminary will be gone for sure.”

So he was their insurance? Except… What exactly would his death do? 

The dragon had specified that he was El’s  _ bondmate _ … How that came to be common enough knowledge that these monsters knew, Erik didn’t know, and he was sticking around to find out.

“Go around,” Erik whispered, “Distract them, and I’ll take them out.”

Healijah floated back the way they came, and Erik kept himself pressed against the rock, just out of sight.

The handle of his blade fit perfectly in his palm.

This was good. 

He could feel his blood roaring in his veins again. 

Just knowing now that El had a chance-

That everyone had a chance.

It was enough to carry him through this.

“It’s terrible!” He heard Healijah cry out to the two other monsters, “a complete catastrophe!” 

Erik took the moment to peer around the side, both creatures, too big to take on his own, were distracted, peering close at the slime as he waxed poetic about the nonexistent disaster.

He waited for them to draw a little closer, waited for the dragon to tilt their head to the side and asked, “And who exactly are you?”

Erik leaped, bringing the point of his blade deep into the dragon’s skull, before lashing out at the other creature, opening a horrible gash across its bulbous belly. 

They hardly had time to be shocked before they were turning to smoke.

Erik rolled his stiff shoulder and eyed the muck on his blade. There wasn’t really anything he could use to wipe the monster blood off on… Oh, well. He wasn’t in any position to care.

“Great work, Erik!” Healijah laughed, and again, Erik felt a sneaking suspicion about his all too happy companion. 

And by now, Erik wasn’t about to ignore his gut. “For a slime all too happy to talk about humans and monsters being the same, you don’t seem to be all that upset about backstabbing your buddies, here.”

“Do we really have time for all these questions?” Healijah said, ignoring Erik entirely, and turning back to float on down the tunnel. “If you want to get back to El, we need to hurry.”

“Hey!” Erik said, maybe a bit too loud, and a few pebbles tumbled down the wall. “ _ Damn it _ !” He hissed through his teeth, hurrying to catch up. 

He’d get his answers, one way or another.

Before they made too much distance, they came to another torch, and a jade door, at complete odds with the surrounding rock.

Erik  _ really  _ didn’t know what to make of this place, between Healijah, the glowing webs, and now this?

Maybe he was dead. Maybe this was his own personal hell, trapped in a never ending tunnel with an enthusiastic slime that wouldn’t shut up.

“Wait,” Erik stopped Healijah as he neared the door, and glanced at the ledge nearby, gesturing for the monster to follow. 

There was almost certainly something nasty on the other side of that door, and if possible he’d like to avoid any more skirmishes.

He always did prefer the backroads, anyway. 

The narrow tunnel opened up into a ledge, and Erik felt his heart drop as he looked down the edge.

“Oh,  _ great _ .”

Monsters of all sizes and kinds stood in formation on the ground below. Leige lizards, spitzfires… He’d killed them before, but never without help, and even then it was only one at a time. “Going down there would be suicide…  _ Damn _ !” Erik gripped his knife so hard his hand ached. What was the point of getting up if  _ this  _ is what he faced? They were preparing for all out  _ war.  _ “What now?”

“Come on, now!” Healijah said, “You can’t just give up like that, what would your sister think?”

Again, how did this slime know all this? “Not that she’d be in much of a position to think much of anything.” He owed it to her to try, now that he knew there was a sliver of hope for her again. “If we make it out of this, you’re giving me answers.” Erik told the slime through his gritted teeth and the fear pumping through his heart

Again, Healijah stayed mute on the topic. “Come on!” He said, “Let’s try that door after all.”

“No,” Erik said, taking a good look at the ledge they stood on. He’d had to scale narrower places with El, this wouldn’t give him any trouble at all. “Come on, stay low and stay quiet.”

Sure enough, there was another ledge, and a tunnel just large enough for him to squeeze through.

Again, it reminded him of the Heliodor jailbreak. 

But this time… There wouldn't be a giant friendly dragon waiting on the other side to team up with.

The new tunnel was lit on either side by glowing luminescent stones, and led to a great, dark chasm. 

He came to the edge, and was prepared to turn around and go back when the contraption beneath his feet moved, the surprise nearly sending him down over the edge before it could even carry him across the dark depths.

At least now, he’d know what to expect if he came across another one.

Just ahead, he could see a goddess statue, the candles at the base lit.

And it threw him, for a moment. 

He was used to seeing these all over, but this was odd. Were these caves populated with worshippers?

He wished he had the time to actually stop and question, but he could hear monsters moving about, and knew he had to move on.

Another platform, another chasm, but carved into stone, he caught just the barest glimpse of a humanoid figure, head bowed, hands ready to cast a spell, and wings stretched out behind it.

It didn’t mean anything.

Ruins were ruins, and nearly every culture had some mythology about angels, right?

But even so…

He didn’t know of any angels with spined wings.

Later.

Maybe he could bring El here, or find Snorri.

He could make plans once he was free.

Erik came across platform after platform, each carrying him for what seemed like longer and longer distances, until the caves went dark.

Only two sconces lit this section, and even beyond the ruin, he couldn’t see what lay ahead.

It did not bode well for his progress, but going back wasn’t an option.

“It’s another one of these thingummies!” Healijah said, but Erik didn’t trust that the slime didn’t know the contraption's real name. “And it’s not working…” He floated up close to the part that stuck up from the middle, and his stingers began to glow. “I think I can fix it! It might take just a minute or two, just wait there, Erik!”

“Not like I’ve got much choice.” Erik muttered, but before he could begin to relax, a call echoed down the tunnel.

“There they are! Call for reinforcements, I’ve found our runaway!” 

Half a dozen imps, and a handful of flythons were approaching.

Erik could take a few, but… “They’ve caught up, can you hurry up?”

“I’m trying!” Healijah said, “Can you hold them off for just a little while?”

Stuck between the horde and a bottomless pit, it wasn’t as if Erik had much choice.

The first group hit, and Erik was able to dodge the pythons fangs that buried deep within the earth, instead managing to dig his blade into its scales, and tear down the length of its body, and continuing the momentum into the chest of one imp, both vanishing into smoke. 

“Ohh!” The second flython hissed, rearing back. “Now you’ve done it! Before we lock you away again, we’re going to make you suffer!”

Erik tried to duck, but one of the imps came after him from below, almost entirely blocking off his escape. One fang caught him in the shoulder, and Erik couldn’t fight off the cry of pain.

He just managed to retaliate, digging his knife deep into its throat.

Too deep. It caught in a vertebra, and he couldn’t yank it back out. 

His blood felt hot, but not from adrenaline.

The viper that fell back had managed to envenomate him.

“It worked, Erik, hurry!” Healijah called from behind him, and Erik retreated, just scarcely managing to climb onto the platform before more monsters appeared.

“Not bad, little guy.” Erik said as they hit the other side of the pit, hand pressed to the wound on his shoulder. 

“I told you I’m not a bad slime,” Healijah responded, letting his healing magic close the puncture.

It wasn’t Serena’s magic, but it would have to do.

Erik stepped off the machine, and looked around. 

Lit with bioluminescent light, this new cave was different. Glowing, fresh plants hung from the roof of the cave, and he could hear water somewhere nearby.

Fresh air… There would have to be an exit somewhere nearby.

Once he was above ground, Erik could find his way.

Except… the cave only opened to where they’d seen the monster battalion, earlier.

“Have we come in one great circle?” Erik asked, hardly believing his eyes.

They couldn’t have!

“Come on, Erik!” The slime moved on, “No time to waste!”

And… Erik followed.

He had no choice. 

But to his disbelief, at last he saw natural light, and clouds.

They weren’t underground at all.

They were in the sky. “ _ What-“  _ Erik breathed, “All this time… What now? Something tells me this isn’t a jump I could survive.”

Completely unarmed, Erik wasn’t prepared for the giant blade that dug into the rock at his feet, sending him skidding back and Healijah bouncing away. “What  _ now _ ?”

As the cloud of dust dissipated, Erik was in disbelief at the creature that stood before him.

“Kneel before Indignus, mortal!” It demanded, “Spectral Sentinel and servant to the Lord of Shadows!” It looked down on Erik, sneering. “It was I who impripnsed you… But you have proven to be more trouble than you’re worth. Why wait to see if the Luminary lives? Killing you now will have the same result.”

Monsters rose from the earth, and flew down from above, surrounding Erik, keeping him from moving back, or even further off the cliff. “Looks like it’s the end of the road, Healijah.”

At least Erik could say that he tried.

_ Sorry, Firefly.  _

_ There is one way. _

The voice echoed down from above. “Healijah?” Erik asked, “Where-“

_ Not quite… You know me by a different name. _

_ ‘One day you shall meet the Luminary somewhere deep underground, and if you help him, you shall be forgiven. _

_ You know those words, don’t you, Erik? _

“That’s…” Erik wouldn’t ever forget them. Wouldn’t ever forget the person who gave them to him.

_ I can give you the power to escape your predicament… A great power that you have tapped in to before. _

Images flashed in his mind, and Erik saw himself in the caves under Octogonia, beating the life out of Vince. His eyes glowed red.

That-

He had been so furious, so intent on protecting El-

But he couldn’t have imagined… 

The red glow, the inhuman growl, the sharp canines in his mouth.

He didn’t look human.

_ Did you really believe you were only human? _

_ A human could not develop a bond with Dragonspawn as quickly as you have and still remain as an equal. _

_ You are so much more. _

_ Take your power, and escape this prison. _

“Then give it to me!” Erik demanded from the empty air. “What are you waiting for?”

_ My assistance comes with a price. In return, you must give up what you treasure most. _

“I don’t… I don’t have anything.” Erik said. There wasn’t one item in the world that meant so much he couldn’t give it up. 

_ A material possession is not necessary. So, tell me. What do you treasure most? _

Images assaulted his mind once more. And it all made sense.

El, as they flew over the champs savuge. The twins, pledging their lives to El. Sylvando, Jade, and Rab as they made their last camp in the first forest.

His memories.

Because he had nothing else to give.

_ Of course, your memories of your brothers and sisters in arms. Precious, indeed.  _

Empty-handed, Erik clenched his fists at his sides. It was that, or death. He’d do it. He’d give them all up, if it meant he could meet them again later.

_ You must understand what you are giving up. _

_ A dragon’s bond is forged of memories. _

It didn’t take a genius to work out what he meant by that. “Do what you have to!” Erik yelled, not caring for how he must look, it’s not as if there was anyone but monsters about to witness his momentary burst of madness. 

If a bond was made from the memories and experiences the dragon and keeper shared… Then he could reforge it.

He would find his dragon again if it killed him.

For a moment, it felt as if Erik had been dipped in molten lava. Heat raced through every vein, and his muscles and joints locked.

Red tinted the world around him.

The air was forced from his lungs, but when the pain faded, the red remained.

“He has accepted his fate at last!” Indignus called out, “Seize him!”

The heat was still there, but the burn was different. Without a weapon in his hand, Erik fought.

He fought like a man possessed. Like an animal.

He didn’t feel in control of his body, he didn’t feel like this  _ was _ his body, as a power unlike he’d ever known swirled around his form, knocking back and fading the weaker creatures.

“Oh,  _ I’m not done _ .” He didn’t recognize his own voice, garbled and distorted. “Not by a long shot!”

His actions played before his eyes like a play, blood and gore on his hands, splattering onto his skin, but he felt no disgust.

The scene before him faded, and again, as he had been all day, he plunged in and out of memories, watching them fade until nothing remained but ash.

When he came to next, Erik saw Indignus on one knee, all his weight supported by his weapon. His armor and his blood broken and puddling on the earth below, but he was not yet finished. 

He stood again, and Erik prepared to finish the job, when his steps fumbled and the heat began to fade.

“ _ No _ …” Erik stopped, his legs shaking with the exertion of just standing. “Not yet! I’m not done!”

But Healijah was gone, and Erik had paid his price.

“Insolent cur!” Indignus spat, “I shall lay your broken carcass at the feet of my master!”

Electricity charged along his blade, and Erik could do nothing to stop the attack.

One last time, Erik found himself in a vision away from where he currently lay, but this time… He couldn’t put a time or place to the memory.

He knew it was himself. Who else’s eyes could he be looking through? But the hands… There was a scar on the left he didn’t have.

The familiar, but still too foreign hands grasped the handle of a basket, and he held it carefully, not letting it jostle as he carried it through the warm and quiet house.

He opened the wooden door, and the intense heat of a summer day hit him like a stack of bricks. 

It was too much, but Erik found himself mostly okay with it. He was still having some trouble, but day by day, he was getting used to these warmer days.

The sound of the river running through its banks was interrupted by yelling and splashing. 

Erik held the basket close, and said something. He felt his mouth move, felt his voice rise, but the sound never reached his ears.

Mia stopped splashing El, who had rolled the hems of his trousers up before he climbed down into the river, but who was now soaked through anyway. Water plastered his hair to his face, and dripped from his wings.

There was something… Different, about him, but Erik couldn’t put his finger on what.

It wasn’t bad, he didn’t think, but it was odd.

Mia shouted up to him, and she looked so happy. 

This was a nice dream, Erik decided as she climbed out of the river and then the stones back up the shore, being careful of the basket he held, but giving her brother a tight, soggy hug. 

He said something to scold her, using his free hand to push her and her overly long, drenched hair away, but he wasn’t mad.

El wasn’t far behind her, one hand coming down to rustle her hair. Her hands came up to push him away.

He looked so happy.

They both did.

Could Erik stay here, in this dream? 

This dream where his dragon was safe, where his sister was happy. 

Where El was free to pull him close and kiss his forehead, and Mia only acted a little disgusted?

But the scene began to turn grey, and the edges began to fade like a burning photograph.

El let go of Erik, and reached into the basket, but before Erik could see what he was pulling out, the vision was gone, and the world was black.

Erik had fallen from a great many places.

He’d fallen from heights as great as the clouds, and taken tumbles from things as little as staircases.

But he’d never fallen from the heavens.

And this time, he didn’t have a dragon to catch him.

He hit the ground, but the man on the sands would not remember.

Someone woke on the sandy shore of an unknown beach.

He did not know how he came to be there, or even so much as who he was.

But he felt as if he’d lost something precious.

Someone struggled to their feet, bracing himself against a rocky outcropping as an unpleasant pressure began to form behind his eyes, quickly ramping up to a sharp point of pain, vertigo sending him spinning, and ringing loud in his ears.

He fought back the nausea riling in his belly, and turned his back to the rock, using it as leverage to sink to the sands. 

He didn’t know who he was.

He didn’t know  _ where  _ he was.

On his person he found only three possessions.

A small necklace, made with a golden chain and a beautifully crafted emerald pendant, and a small hand-written journal about dragons.

It was all at odds with the simple and messy clothes he wore, the worn palms of his gloves, and the fraying edges of his tunic.

Nothing gave him a name to place, nothing gave him a memory to recall.

Someone was alone on the beach, and he didn’t know why he cried.

~~

On an unknown beach, a shore that was once teeming with life, but has since become lifeless and empty, El drops to his knees.

The taste of seawater overpowering as it streams from his lips, the smell all he can detect on his saturated clothes.

His claws dig into the sand, and for a moment, all he can hear is the ringing in his ears.

There's pain, now. Something that appeared and faded all in the space of a heartbeat. Fierce and then gone.

Like a branch snapping.

Like a thread being cut.

El struggles upright, looks up to the malice-tinged sky, and screams.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sure I haven’t won myself any friends with this ending.


	11. Resolve and Resolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fog crept over his mind.  
> Something that began to remind him of what the ciders in Sniflheim made him feel, but it only grew.  
> Exponentially, second by second, until it was a high screeching inside his mind, and the world fell away from him, even as he kept flying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know how long I’ll be spitting these chapters out this quickly, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts!

When Krystalinda said that broken hearts killed dragons… When she said that they were hard to live with, he didn’t know how literally she spoke.

Not until he found himself laid on the beach, the tide washing over his feet, claws dug into the sand, the pain a rising static in his brain, feeling all over again what it was to be impaled. 

The thread was cut, and in its absence, it left El cold, and more alone than he could ever remember.

It couldn’t be…

Queen Marina had told him that his friends were still out there, waiting for him.

He couldn’t have been too late by mere minutes, could he?

But the absence of Erik’s presence in his heart gave him the answer.

Tears welled in the corner of El’s eyes, and his hands came to press over his mouth, and he wailed. 

There was no reason to try to remain quiet.

This beach was dead.

There was no one to see him curled on the ground, no one to hear him scream for his bondmate, as if there was anything crying could do, as if it would bring him back.

El didn’t know how long he lay on that shore, how long until the sobs began to slow, until he managed to let go of his own arms, half-moon shaped cuts going right through his sleeves.

When the high tide of pain releases him, when it eases to just the edges of his focus, Eleven is able to push himself off the sands.

He doesn’t recognize where he is.

He’d had to swim for his life, away from Nautica, not caring for direction or purpose until he managed to drag himself ashore.

He couldn’t see a single landmark… But it may only be that nothing looked the same under the dark purple sky.

It shouldn’t matter, anymore.

He’d failed.

He’d failed Erik, himself, the entire world… 

But there had to be something left to do. Something he could change.

Queen Marina had shown him what remained of humanity.

There was work for the Luminary to do.

He couldn’t… thorn sharp pain scattered throughout his chest, and El staggered, biting his lip until he tasted blood, the new short cut of pain slashing through all the old. It shouldn’t help, but it did. 

He couldn’t let himself die.

Not yet.

El took on his dragon form, and then to the air.

From the ground he may not be able to tell where he was, but from the sky he should be able to at least somewhat identify his location.

He had been expecting destruction… But this…

Entire acres of land smoldered.

Buildings were crushed, burning, torn apart just like Cobblestone had been.

The entire world, reflecting the damage done to his hometown, months and months ago.

But even so… Somehow, this was more of a shock.

Cobblestone was small.

It went mostly unknown to the outside world. They had no military force, no troops or cannons or anything to protect themselves.

But a place like Puerto Valor…

He’d seen it so recently, so bright and sunny, that it almost hurt to look at in the midday sun, light reflecting from their stark white architecture.

But now, it was bleak and grey.

The homes destroyed, businesses in ruin. The oceans were now dark and murky instead of clear and blue…

El needed to find someone. Find anyone he knew. 

He couldn’t go down there on his own.

With monsters running even more wild than ever before… 

If he would’ve been feared before, he hardly wanted to know how he’d be viewed now.

But where to find his companions, if any still lived at all… 

El didn’t have long to ponder what his next step would need to be, when he felt something odd.

A fog crept over his mind.

Something that began to remind him of what the ciders in Sniflheim made him feel, but it only grew.

Exponentially, second by second, until it was a high screeching inside his mind, and the world fell away from him, even as he kept flying.

El swam in and out of consciousness, each aware moment brief and fleeting, and peppered with things he could not make sense of.

Seconds in the air, but a heartbeat somewhere underground.

He feels pain in his side, and feels fur and flesh tear under his claws, but he knows not what he’s fighting.

He wakes truly in what looks like a jungle. He’s half-hidden in a tangle of roots and vines, utterly exhausted. His heart still hurts, but it is outdone by the pain in his side. 

He knows what gave him this wound.

He can see the monsters nearby, eyes glowing and red, vicious in a way they hadn’t before been. 

He thinks that’s what’s happening to him, now. These brief moments of awareness stained with the taste and smell of blood, the pain of a freshly won fight.

He couldn’t change back.

Not yet.

In dragon form even these disturbed creatures gave him a wide berth, but as a human… He feared he would not be able to defend himself.

A stabbing sensation in his chest, that reminded him of Phnom Nom. If Erik’s knife had pierced his heart instead of his shoulder.

Perhaps it should have.

Saved them all some trouble.

Except…

No. If nothing else, if El was right, if this pain and this broken bond meant the worst, then he could take even the slightest comfort knowing that Erik wasn’t suffering this same pain. That he didn’t have to see the world change as El is now.

Not the traditional understanding of the word ‘comfort’, but when it is all you have… 

The fog was back, and El did not fight it. 

~~

El does not know how long it has been since his last visit from clarity, but when it does return, it’s a sudden and jarring change from the pleasant memories in his head.

The pain was back with a vengeance, and El could no longer keep himself aloft through its onslaught. 

His stomach turned with his drop in altitude, and within moments he found himself crashing into ice cold water.

“Don’t climb that, son.” Chalky says from where he’s sitting in their spot on their three-sided rock, “You’ll fall, and I’m not in any shape to be fishin’ young dragons out of rivers.”

Normally, El listened to his grandpa. Normally, he would’ve taken what he said seriously, and followed what he was told. 

But today… 

El had just flown for the first time. Or, at least, what he thought qualified as ‘flying.’ Looking back on it, he wouldn’t truly fly for another couple of years.

It wasn’t very high, and it was only for a few moments. Instincts took over the little dragon as if he was a fledgling bird instead, and what should have been but a simple topple down the little cliff by his house was a much less than graceful but still successful flight. Only a few flaps, but he’d saved himself a bruised hind end.

And all the excitement from Gemma and Chalky alike had gone to his head. 

Enough so that he didn’t pay any mind to his mum’s scolding about being careful, and enough to make him feel just that much more invincible at eight years old.

“I’ll be fine!” El said, hopping another stone closer to the falls themselves, wings spreading wide over the little stream. It wasn’t enough height to get airborne again. “I can fly, now! Remember?”

That was enough to make a little bit of hesitancy to creep into Chalky's voice. Perhaps he’d made too big a deal about the little fluttery hover his grandson had managed that morning. “It’s dangerous.” He warned, hoping he sounded more serious this time around. He wasn’t playing anymore, and his little dragon usually paid him enough mind to notice. “We don’t need you taking a tumble and bumping your head, now. You don’t want to be laid up while Gemma plays outside, do you?”

“No, grandpa.” El said, sounding dejected.

That was enough for Chalky to feel safe enough to remain focused on his float bobbing in the soft current.

But he should have turned around.

Should have stopped to make sure that El had actually listened to him, and wasn’t trying to scale the smooth, river-cut side of a boulder as if he was a gecko rather than a dragon. 

Perhaps then, he would’ve been prepared for the yelp and then splash as El hit the water.

“El?” Gemma’s voice dragged away the haze, as his head resurfaced.

His name. Just one single word more sobering than the ice bath he just took. Gemma was here-

This… This was Cobblestone Falls!

That meant that the familiar jungle was the Manglegrove. That the stone he felt beneath his talons was the Kingsbarrow.

That he had flown all the way from Puerto Valor to his old home, without willing it.

He wanted to believe that it was just autopilot. That he was returning to what he knew, but El was no fool.

He knew there was likely a more sinister alternative.

The water was shallow. In dragon form, it comes just to his knees. The water is always clear.

Filled with little minnows and the odd colorful fish he couldn’t ever remember the name of. 

Carp were always plentiful in the summer. He could remember playing in the water as a whelp along with Gemma, the both of them trying to chase the fish in the shallow parts, splashing and swimming and scaring away all the fish while Chalky sat quietly, not minding the poor fishing at all.

But Chalky wasn’t here anymore, and the streams are empty of life.

Gemma splashes into the depths with him, paying no mind to the chill as the water comes up around her waist, and takes either side of El’s jaw in her hands.

“What’s happened to you?” Gemma asks, and El feels the fog begin to reappear.

Not now! He begs silently, he can’t lose control. Not here, not now, not Gemma! 

El! Gemma’s voice rings in his mind, and whatever fates are left to listen, hear El’s plea. His mind is free, and he wastes not one of these precious seconds to change back, praying that the viciousness does not follow.

But with the change, the last of his strength is sapped, and in the waters, he sags into Gemma’s arms.

“Oh, good Yggdrasil…” Her voice was high, and her hands held tight to his shoulders as the blood still staining his skin tinges the water around them. 

Gemma had always been a strong girl. In a village like Cobblestone, where everyone was a farmer, a builder, you had to be. It shouldn’t be any strain on her to half-carry, half-drag her brother to shore. 

Except… He knew that her left wrist still gave her troubles when she overdid it.

“Leave me alone!” El tried to yell past his tears, but between his shaking shoulders, his face buried in his arms, and the two wings he had yet to grow into wrapped around himself, it hardly came across clearly.

But even it had sounded like anything other than just miserable mumbling, Amber still wouldn’t have listened.

She faced the little dragon, huddled in the corner of the supply house, and sighs.

It really had been an accident. She knew he wouldn’t have ever tried to hurt Gemma intentionally. 

But all the same, there was a little girl sitting in the village church, with a broken wrist and not a single gifted spellcaster in sight to make her feel better.

“There’s no use in moping about.” Amber told him, trying to keep her voice light. Of all the little things that made raising El different, that made it just a little harder, this was going to be the most difficult yet. She’d seen the whole sorry affair. The charcoal smudges on Sandy’s face, the angry little slap-fight that ensued, and finally, the golden-scaled hand that caught Gemma around the wrist.

A more… As much as Amber hated using the word, a more normal child wouldn’t have been able to break bone so effortlessly. 

She did so much wish Chalky was still around. He did so much better than she ever could in these situations. But it wasn’t in her blood to give up. “Why don’t you go and tell Gemma you’re sorry?”

Another sniff and another unintelligible mumble later, Amber was prying away the two big golden wings to find her son’s face. “You’re going to have to say it sometime.” A single apology wasn’t much to give for a broken bone, but it would be a start. These two were hardy kids, they wouldn’t let it keep them down long. In fact, Amber was willing to bet that Gemma would be right back to her normal schemes by the end of the week. “It was only an accident. Not the end of the world.”

But the change seemed to have worked, and the fog was gone. But his head was anything but clear.

“Gemma-“ His voice cracked with disuse, and it set his throat on fire. But he couldn’t care. She was alive. And if she was, so could everyone else be. Erik had been right, all those months ago.

He wished he could tell him, now.

He didn’t speak again right away, taking this peace, this small luxury of safety to catch his breath.

I want to go home.

“Absolutely not!” Gemma says, hands on her hips, glaring daggers at him where he still sat on the ground. “If we go home with you looking like that you’ll give your poor old mum a heart attack!”

El looked down at himself.

Both his duster and undershirt were blood-drenched, and boasting large tears through the chest. He felt cold, as he looked upon the scar.

Grey. Twisting.

Just like-

Just like…

His broken heart. 

It sounded painful, just as a concept. Just in human terms. But this…

Even the bits that remained felt like they were filled with cracks.

A broken ceramic pot, the shards only continuing to grow hairline fractures, until it couldn’t ever be glued back together.

“The blood.” El said, “And the scar?”

“And the horn.” Gemma added on. “It won’t be too hard to clean up the rest, but-“

“What do you-“ El cut off. Where his fingers should have met with bone, they found only empty air. “No,” he breathed, “That doesn’t-“

El turned back to the still waters, and could hardly believe what he saw in his reflection.

One horn, a chip taken out of the tip, but otherwise unchanged.

But only one.

The second was almost entirely gone.

Jagged edges just a couple of inches above his head, almost small enough to be hidden by his hair, matted with blood.

When could this have happened? How could he have not noticed? Remained ignorant of the pain?

His fingers touched the end. The ends were sharp. Not sharp enough to cut, but enough to leave a thin white line in its wake.

“I take it you don’t know what happened?” Gemma asked. He watched her reflection bend down to sit next to him, her hand touching his shoulder. 

It could’ve been anything. The fight on Yggdrasil. The fall of Yggdrasil. These blackouts… “No.”

She didn’t say anything right away. 

There wasn’t anything to fill the silence. Not birdsong, not wind. Nothing.

The World was truly dead around them.

Soon to be a mass grave, for every last living thing, all laid out around the burned out shell of Yggdrasil.

“We’ll just get rid of the duster.” Gemma said, “I’m sure I can get it mended, though, if you’d like.”

El didn’t move.

“Come on,” She offered a hand. “Let’s get you home, okay?”

Home. What did that word mean? 

Cobblestone was in ruins, built around and changed by Heliodor. Dundrasil wasn’t his home, and even if it was, there wasn’t anything there.

If he had a home-

It would’ve been where he’d spent the last year of his life. It would’ve been on the road, on Sylvando’s ship.

Erik’s side.

But now, it seemed as though that home was gone as well.

But he knew what Gemma meant.

He knew she meant well. 

“Amber will be over the moon to see you well.” She continued on, “And grandpa, and Cole, and-“

He didn’t hear her anymore. The pain was coming back, the World was spinning… Then, there was nothing.

~~

Amber didn’t know what to focus on first, when Gemma came home past curfew, not a single twig of firewood gathered, soaked to the bone, and her son, all but unconscious, only held upright by her shoulder.

He was alive- and that should have been the most important thing, but… 

The dark circles, the scar running down his chest and stomach, the one twisting over his heart… The missing horn. The open wound on his side she’d just patched up...

The past year had clearly been unkind to them all. But to El… As miserable and stir-crazy as they had all become in the dungeons, they were warm and safe. They had full bellies. 

But looking at El, now, so exhausted he had hardly made it home at all… 

He had to fight for his life, out there. He had to sleep rough, out in the cold of the world. And if the clear visibility of his ribs was anything to go by, it had been quite a while since he last had a proper meal.

Though, that was true of them all, these last three months. Her boy was finally home where he belonged, and she couldn’t even offer him the comfort of his old house.

His duster lay in her lap, the blood stains all washed out, but the rips still being mended.

It had always been difficult to make his clothes.

She’d gone through idea after idea to keep his wings free, often coming close to just giving up entirely, and having the child just go shirtless. 

The old frustrations were gone.

Amber almost wanted them back.

She’d take needle-pricked fingers and piles of scrapped patterns any day over this. 

She worked silently on the tears, but she knew it was going to come out messy.

Her hands had a tremor in them these days, and she couldn’t keep her eyes on her needle.

She’d patched bloody clothes before, rips over scraped knees when he’d tried to climb the monument with Gemma, a torn collar stained by a bloody nose when he fell from a tree-

Never this, though.

Never tears from something with claws as big as her head. Never a hole punched through the center of the chest-

Her work ceased, and Amber found herself staring at her little soldier. 

Still asleep, but visibly pained.

His brow was furrowed, and sweat beaded along his forehead. 

They had medicinal herbs, as soon as he woke she could go get some, ease his pain. 

But she found herself not having to wait.

El began to stir, where he lay on his uninjured side, his hand grasped tight to his cover, and his wings began to fidget.

Amber quickly stood, hanging the duster and giving her son room.

His eyes opened, looking around blearily, and Amber nearly fell back in shock.

It was only there for a second, the moment he blinked his eyes returned to their normal blue, but it was there.

No trick of the light, no figment of her imagination.

For a single heartbeat, her baby’s eyes were blood red.

“Mum?” His voice was low, muffled by pain and sleep, but the fear Amber had felt melted away.

Whatever that little second was, it didn’t matter.

He needed her right now. So, she pulled her little stool close to his side, and reached out.

“I-I just can’t believe you’re here, again.” Amber said, taking one of his hands in hers. Skin that was once so soft, even scaled, now rough and calloused from his sword. “I never believed it, when he told me you were gone. Not even for a moment.”

She was rambling. He’d only just woken, and here she was, spilling her guts about things that didn’t matter anymore.

And- oh, no-

“Dear, don’t cry!” But the damage was done.

El had always been one easily brought to tears. Gemma had called him a crybaby all through their childhood, as he sobbed and wailed over this and that. 

It got to a point that hearing him cry wasn’t always a cause for concern.

But it always had managed to tug on her heart, and now was no exception.

He was sitting up, reaching out past the space between them, and Amber let him.

It was an awkward thing, trying to hug someone with two big wings covering most his back, but she was used to it, now.

Careful of the padding on his side, and the bandages wrapped oddly around his horn, she held her son tight, stroking through his hair, and shushing him until his shakes stopped.

Amber was meant to fetch Sir Hendrik when he woke. She still didn’t fully trust the man, but she knew he meant no harm, now.

But he could wait.

She didn’t know half of what he’d been through. She was in no hurry to rush him through it.

She wasn’t, at least.

At last, his tears slowed to a trickle, still falling, but he was in control of himself again. 

He sat upright on his cot, elbows resting on his legs, and his wings pulled in close to his body. 

He was always just a little withdrawn, but Amber wasn’t used to him like this.

She gave him a few moments to gather his thoughts, but before he could even begin to speak, the entrance to their tent opened, and Amber heard Gemma pipe up.

“Oh!” She hurried in, tying the flap behind her. “Thank goodness you’re awake!”

Gemma wasted no time settling herself down. There were no more chairs or stools for her to take, but she didn’t want to make El move, and she never minded getting a little dirty anyway, so sitting down on the earthen floor wasn’t any matter.

“You nearly gave me a heart attack, crash landing like that!” Gemma said, speaking loud and fast, as if she was trying to push past what she truly wanted to say. 

And if Amber knew the young woman, she could hazard a guess that she wanted to be the one crying. She wanted to kick up a fuss and demand explanations.

But for El’s sake, she wouldn’t. 

“‘m sorry.” El mumbled, wiping a hand over his eyes. 

“There’s no need to say sorry, dear.” Amber told him, “I’m sure you have plenty to tell us.”

He glanced away. “In a moment.” He said, “Could- could you tell me what happened here, first?”

“Of course!” Gemma said, picking up on what happened an entire year ago, after those first arrows flew. His eyes went dark at Sir Jasper’s name, and his fingers twitched, moving to press over the scar on his sternum. 

Amber wasn’t the sharpest knife. She had only the education that her father could give her, but she was no fool. 

Jasper has given him that mark, and if she could guess, it wasn’t the only one. 

“But that didn’t stop them burning the village to the ground and locking us all up in the castle.” Gemma said, “Still, Sir Hendrik made sure we came to no harm. And, while we were in the castle, he visited us. Let us know you were okay!”

El looked up. “He did?”

“He did.” Amber said, “I know he was after you the whole time, but he kept us informed. I don’t think he liked the situation, hunting down a mere boy who had done no wrong.”

El didn’t respond. Hadn’t anything to add. Struggling between what he experienced of Hendrik, and now what he was being told of the newly dubbed Hero.

“But that’s enough about us!” Gemma said, “You’re the one that’s been in the world. What happened? What’s happened to you?”

“Gemma,” Amber cautioned, “Don’t push. He’s surely tired.”

“I’m fine.” El said, speaking over her. 

It was shocking. 

El hadn’t done that since he was a boy. Hardly spoke aloud since he’d developed his silent way, either. 

She couldn’t say she wasn’t curious about what had happened. And only nodded, letting him continue.

“I’ve been all over the world,” he bagan, choosing his words carefully, and Amber got the distinct impression that he was about to leave a lot out. 

The tale he wove was jarring. So much he’d had to do, so much Amber could hardly visualize. Seeing everything from the Castle town, to the sparkling Kingdom of Sniflheim.

But when he came to the World Tree, he faltered. His voice cracked, and his tail lashed, a pained hiss forcing through his teeth and he bent forward, both hands clutching around his middle.

“Gemma,” Amber stood, “Go and get some herbs, and a healer! He needs-“

“No!” El barked through his onslaught, “No. they won’t help.”

“Won’t help your wounds?” Gemma asked, placing a hand on his shoulder, that he jerked away from as if her touch burned.

“Gemma, go.” Amber told the girl, who hesitated by El’s side, but listened. 

“Wounds… Don’t hurt.” He said between rapid, shallow breaths. “Don’t leave, mum… please.”

And what could she do but relent? 

Amber didn’t know what to do. Hadn’t ever felt so powerless as she had to watch her son power through an agony she couldn’t comprehend.

He wasn’t crying. Wasn’t even making a sound as the pain shuddered through him. 

When it finally stopped, and he let go of his arms, his talons having left even more thin slices through his arm, Amber couldn’t hold back.

She needed answers.

“El, love, what’s happened to you?” Amber asked, feeling on the brink of tears herself, but scared to reach out and touch her son, scared that she would hurt him further.

El didn’t answer right away, swallowing hard against the rush of conflict, whether to tell them or keep them in the dark, but in the end, his need to share the truth won out. 

“What… What do you know about dragons?” He asked, “What did grandpa know that he didn’t tell me?”

Amber was taken back. She knew that her father held some information from them both, waiting until El was old enough to hear it before he came clean, but passing before the time came.

But she didn’t know how El knew.

“Not… not much.” She admitted. All the changes El went through, all the little abilities and quirks he developed came as surprises. 

El took a great, shuddering sigh, and spoke. “I met someone.” He said, three words, packed full of meaning.

Amber wanted to smile, wanted to be excited for her son, but she knew this was not the beginning of good news. She knew that this someone wasn’t about to come home for dinner. 

El’s hand found his scar again. “Dragons… Bond, with people. I could talk to him like I do with you, but… There was so much more.” He sounded in awe, as if even now it was incredible to just believe. “I could feel every emotion he had, I could feel his pain. We…” The awe was gone, and his voice cracked. “He helped me so much. When I came here before, and you were all gone… He made me believe you were all still alive, and I couldn’t wait for you to meet him.”

Amber settled back down to her seat, and listened. About the boy her son loved, the boy that didn’t care that El was different, that kept him going strong in the toughest of times. This boy Erik, that she would never meet. 

“And he’s gone.” El said. “I- I don’t know how, but he is. The bond is just gone. There’s nothing left, but sometimes- it hurts. More than anything else.”

Amber stayed quiet, trying to figure out what exactly to say. An apology wasn’t right. It wouldn’t suffice.

“You loved him very much.” She observed, taking El’s hands again. “And if you don’t know, how can you be sure he’s gone? This Erik sounds like a tenacious young fellow.” 

“I met someone else like me.” El said, “Another dragonspawn. She told me that when bonds are broken…” He trailed off, a look passing over his face that screamed regret. That he spoke too much.

And Amber didn’t like that one bit. 

Amber didn’t mind little white lies. She wouldn’t have cared at all if he was just trying to hide something a little embarrassing. But that was not the case. This was important. This was causing him tremendous pain, and she wouldn’t let that slide. “Dear-“

Once again, the tent was opened, but instead of Gemma being trailed by a healer, Hendrik’s imposing form was at her back. 

El scrambled back, standing tall, wings about as spread as they could get in the small tent. 

“Stand down,” Hendrik commanded, “I am not here to harm you.” His eyes stopped on Amber for just a moment. “It seems as though you were right. It takes more than that to take down the Luminary.”

She didn’t respond.

She knew why he was here.

“Come, Luminary.” Hendrik said to the dragon, “It is time you joined us in the battle.”

“He is in no shape to fight!” Amber protested, but even as she tried, El was already moving, grabbing his duster from the rack by his cot. “El!” She tried to chastise when she saw him slip on the coat, “I’ve not finished mending that, either.”

The three long claw marks that cut along his ribs stung, but that was about it. They’d been treated and patched. It was a pain he could ignore. “I’m fine.” He told his mother, “I’ve had worse.” He didn’t consider the implications of his words until he’d spoken them, but he knew that if she’d seen the scars and marks along his stomach, then she knew that already.

“El,” she begged as he strode behind Hendrik. “Please, stay.” 

El wanted to stop. He wanted to come home, settle back into his old life as if nothing had happened. He wanted to work in the gardens and go swimming in the river…

But he couldn’t stop. Not for anything. For anyone.

He was the Luminary, and he’d already failed the world once. If there was any chance he could make things right again, or even make these people safe again, he had to try.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have a choice, it was that he didn’t even stop to consider he could just say no.

“I’m sorry.” He stopped to look over his shoulder at her as the tent flap shut.

She wasn’t following.

That was for the best.

Hendrik walked ahead of him silently.

“The King is resting in the tent atop the stairs, just over there, marked by the flags. If you have any loose ends to wrap up here, I suggest you hurry.”

El wanted to hate Hendrik. Wanted to be spiteful, and take his time visiting everyone from his village. He wanted to see them alive and well, wanted to see everything that had happened to the place he once called home. 

Wanted to make the King and Hendrik wait.

It was petty. It was stupid.

But he wasn’t going to humor it.

“Just a couple of things.” El said, “I won’t be long.”

“Be sure you are not late.” Hendrik answered, marching off to see the King, and leaving El standing in the dusty road. 

He felt eyes on him. 

But he did not meet any of them. Stand tall. Stand proud. He’d make it through this.

Surely there was a merchant through here somewhere. He needed a sword, and didn’t have the energy to forge one himself.

Not when all these soldiers loitering around his old home carried iron. 

Sick feeling or not, he wasn’t going to complain.

These people had what they had, and he wasn’t going to make them disarm themselves if he wasn’t going to be here long.

But first… El looked back the way he came. 

The pier was in view.

His feet carried him there before he’d even thought about it.

The last time he was here, he’d seen a vision of his grandfather.

He’d been able to get some help from the past, and now he hoped he could get the same.

But as his feet touched the wooden planks, no golden Luminary glow greeted him.

His power was gone.

His grandpa could not help him, this time. 

But instead… There was a child. A young girl, navy hair tied in a ribbon, sitting with her knees pulled close.

But she was no human.

Small, leathery wings sprouted from her back, different from his own, nothing like a dragon’s at all. Instead, the two little wings and the simple black tail reminded him more of a draky.

She caught him staring.

“You’re like me.” She said, staring at his wings, then back at the murky black water of the river that was once clear. “I lost everything when Yggdrasil fell. My family, my friends… everything.”

She didn’t know El was the Luminary. She wasn’t blaming him, but it felt like she was all the same. “Then I got these, when the smoke came. There was so much that I wanted to do. But how am I supposed to do anything now?”

“I’m going to make things better.” El told her, cementing his resolve. For these people, he wouldn’t fail again. For this poor girl…

He’d bring the light back. 

She didn’t respond. 

But he didn’t need one.

He turned away, her blue hair stuck in his mind. He was going to succeed. For his family, for his friends, for the people displaced and changed.

He was going to do this for Erik.

He would find that peaceful ending they were looking for, and he’d keep all his promises. 

Somehow, he’d find Mia. Even if Erik wouldn’t be there, he’d help her somehow.

Hope wasn’t something he’d expected to find here, but it would seem that these people had it in abundance. 

People he’d never met, people from both the upper and lower halves of Heliodor stood together.

He found Cole, playing with a child who’d lost everything, laughing as if this all was a fun game, and not the world in its death throes. 

He found a thief, not so unlike his own, turning over a new leaf to care for a little girl.

He found a woman. Becoming a mother to an orphaned infant, making El see so much of Amber in her. 

Even going as far as to point out the tent he left her in, telling her that she would be more than happy to give her any help she needed.

El followed the path back through the Bastion, and sure enough, there were a handful of shopkeepers, though with less than quality wares. 

He hadn’t expected much, but all the same, he didn’t have much choice. 

Finally he found one that had more of what he needed, and under the merchant’s watchful eye, he lifted a blade from its stand. 

“How much?” El asked, holding the nightcleaver carefully. The last thing he needed right now was an extra cut or two. He was less experienced with great swords, but he was adept enough.

“Oh, don’t you worry about that, none!” The squat man said, “I wouldn’t ask friends ‘ta pay!”

“I’m sorry,” El said, gratefully settling the sword along his back, the sheath placed carefully between his wings, but asking, confused, “I don’t think we’ve met?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t remember, would you? We met in Heliodor. I’m Derk, Erik’s old mucker. I don’t quite know ‘ow he managed to avoid tellin’ me the dragon he was carryin’ around like a parrot was the Luminary, but that’s just like ‘im, isn’t it? Trust Erik to end up knockin’ about with a bona fide legend! ‘Ow’s he doing, anyway? He’s ‘round ‘ere somewhere with you, right?”

“Erik… Isn’t with me.” El answered, and found himself at a loss for what to say next. Derk sounded so sure he was alright, that he’d survived this catastrophe. And how was El supposed to crush his hopes like that? “I haven’t seen him since…” 

“Got separated in all the confusion, eh?” El could hardly believe his ears. “Well, wiv things ‘ow they are, that’s understandable.” How could this man, having gone from a manor in upper Heliodor to a shared tent in a camp still have so much faith in Erik?

He couldn’t begin to explain everything that went wrong. Everything he and Erik had that was now less than even dust- 

But Erik’s old friend had a right to know.

“I don’t know if he made it.” El said, speaking the truth. “Everything was so bad… It’s nothing short of a miracle I survived.” He confessed.

Derk’s friendly smiles faded, and his voice took on a much more somber tone. “I know, kid.” He said, “But if there is one thing I know for sure, it’s that Erik is a survivor. One way or another, he finds a way to move on.”

Maybe it would’ve been easier to let his words give him hope if this emptiness wasn’t so overpowering. 

“You know what?” Derk spoke up once more, digging around under the table he’d set up shop on. “Take this, too. Erik’ll be needing a good knife when you find him.”

“You’re too generous.” El said, thinking back to everything the man had already given to their fight, but took the knife anyway. 

“If there is anything I can do to help, you let me know.” Derk said. “And when you find Erik, you let him know his ol’ pal Derk is still kicking, eh?”

When you find him. “Yeah.” El breathed out softly, sliding the new weapon through his belt. “I’ll do that.”

He was shooed away from the shop, and now, looking around the Bastion, there was nothing left for him to do to put off seeing the King.

There was a soldier standing guard, who stopped El as he tried to pass. “Luminary, sir-“ and wow, wasn’t that a sudden change of pace? “I, um… I wanted to apologize. I was one of the guards that kept you locked up, back in the castle. Never felt right, to me.”

El blinked dumbly. Those days were so far back in his mind, he hardly ever expected to receive an apology. 

“T-thank you.” He managed, “It wasn’t your fault, though. Don’t worry about it.” It was even more surprisingly easy to accept the apology,

The guard let him pass, and El moved on to someone he felt he wouldn’t be able to accept an apology from. 

King Carnelian sat on a cot no more luxurious than his own had been, in a tent no more spacious than his had been.

At the very least he knew he wasn’t demanding his usual comforts in these dark times.

“So. You are alive and well, I see.” He said, his face remaining passive, but the slightest hint of shame his pass over his eyes before he could hide it. 

El did not respond.

“You have nothing to fear from me. I have regained my senses at last. The living nightmare that began for me on the day of your birth has ended.” He explained, “I remember all too well what I have done. The pain I have inflicted on so many, the pain and poverty my rule has since caused… I do not ask for forgiveness. I do not deserve it. All I ask is that I may atone. To pay for my crimes by protecting those who remain.”

He had done as much already, but El could see the frailness in his bones. His possession had left a mark, and one that would not fade so easily.

Against his will, El did feel a spark of pity for the King.

“Tell me,” Carnelian said, “do you recall what happened that fateful day? The events that came to pass beneath Yggdrasil’s branches?”

“All too well.” El said, hands clenching into fists as he remembered Erik’s screams for him to run.

“I see…” Carnelian looked to the floor, hands bunching in his robes. “It is one day I recall nothing of. All I know is that whatever had me in its grasp for all these years left me there, and when at long last I returned to my senses, I was here. There is something else I must ask.” His voice became sharp, and his eyes met El’s, “Tell me, is my daughter alive?”

“I do not know.” El answered, unable to maintain eye contact with the King.

“I see.”

Silence fell, but lasted only moments before another soldier burst in. 

“Your majesty! More survivors at the Gates!”

“Wonderful news.” The King said, but his voice was strained. More survivors, but more to protect. More lives at stake, more mouths to feed. “Take the Luminary with you,” he ordered, “Let him see who it is we fight to protect.”

El had to bite his tongue to keep from insulting the king. He knew full well what he was fighting for, and he didn’t need the advice or orders from a man who sat safe and inside all day.

He wasn’t about to make the king his enemy yet again, so he followed the soldier. 

Said nothing.

Kept his jaws shut and his thoughts to himself as he strode ahead of the king, to meet Hendrik.

“Sire.” He saluted, fist over his heart. “The forces of darkness amass at the gates of Heliodor. They will strike, and soon. Sire, the people must be moved to safety.” 

The King nodded. They had nowhere else to go, but they could at least try to hide the villagers.

Hendrik turned to address his troops. “Men! All the signs are that our enemy will strike tonight! To arms! They shall not find us unprepared!” Without a further word, he was leaving again, leaving a bad taste in El’s mouth.

“As you can see, he is as… Eloquent as ever. But you must forgive him. He has fought harder than any of us. He has sacrificed more than anyone… Which is why his burden must be lightened. It is time that your differences were set aside, Luminary. Mankind needs you. Hendrik needs you. Will you stand beside him?”

Again, El didn’t have a choice. Saying no would be leaving his village, his family, all these people, at the mercy of the monsters.

So he said yes, and said nothing about his and Hendrik’s differences, as if that was ever the issue, and not that the man had an arrow shot into his ass, and had been chasing him for a year.

“Good.” King Carnelian said, “With you in our midst, we may yet survive. Go, join the troops.”

El watched as the king was escorted away, before he made his way to the gates.

As he passed the well, he recalled the last time he passed through here, on his way to Heliodor for the first time.

When the sun still shone, and he had yet to truly understand the weight of the mark on his hand.

It felt a lifetime ago.

A lifetime ago that the well was boarded up, after Gemma nearly fell in. A lifetime ago, they would play in the small pond in the tunnel, swinging from the tree branches to try and make bigger splashes.

A lifetime ago, before El ever saw himself standing among soldiers and civilians alike, in a desperate last-ditch attempt to survive the night.

But… As El looked closer, he caught sight of things that didn’t quite fit.

Of ears and tails, scales and fur that didn’t match the bodies they belonged to.

A side effect, of the toxic and cursed miasma that rose in the air from the smoldering rubble of Yggdrasil. 

Well, at the least that explained why no one was looking too closely at him.

“Hey!” A hand came down against El’s shoulder, and he nearly stumbled. There was a man at his back, smiling at him, one he’d never seen before, and yet he was meeting his eyes, and not his horns, or wings. “You must be our newest recruit! They say you made it all the way here on your own steam. Well, I’m impressed, I’ve got to tell you!” His eyes moved down El’s stance, and he nodded, “You can obviously handle yourself, that or you were just born lucky! Well, either way, I’m sure we can find a use for you. Follow me!”

El felt only a second's worth of indignation. He lost his power. He wasn’t truly the Luminary anymore, and this man wasn’t of his companions, he didn’t mean anything by it.

“Right,” he said, leading El to what seemed as just a random spot. “Here you go. Just face that way, and when the monsters come, stick the pointy end of your sword at them.”

Okay. Now El was insulted. But before he could voice it, the man clapped him on the shoulder again, but this time aggravating the slash on his side, and sending El off-balance, falling over onto the side of Obsidian, and looking up at Hendrik. 

Oh, Yggdrasil, how much El wanted to be able to change. Stand at eye level with him, even on his stupid-tall horse. 

But until he knew for sure if his blackouts were due to the viciousness sinking it’s claws into him as well, he wouldn’t risk all the lives around him just to feel vindicated. 

But Hendrik wasn’t looking at him with his usual blank contempt.

There was something else there… That El didn’t care to find, turning away and facing forward, even as he picked up the sound of his gloves holding painfully tight to the horse's reins.

“Enemy forces!” The call came from behind them, someone on the lookout tower, “Here they come!” 

Hendrik drew his sword, and all around El, they began to march forward as the undead army drew close.

Even past the emptiness in his heart, El felt the barest flicker of his fires, ready to engulf these creatures, if only he could summon it as a human.

But… To his surprise, he could taste his own acrid smoke, and with an exhale, a single burst of flames escaped, lighting up around him.

And oh, did it make him feel alive.

These creatures, all the true darkspawn, he was going to make them burn.

The monsters surged forward, and El needed no command from Hendrik to meet them, great sword drawn and fire spitting from between his gritted teeth.

He wanted to change, his brain was screaming at him to turn as his blade ricocheted off a skeleton’s ribs, but he had to fight it.

His wings splayed open, catching a drift and sending him into the air just in time to miss the sharpened and rusted edge of a skeleton’s shield. He used his air to release a lungful of fire, the blaze catching not only his one attacker, but sparing another soldier his own fight. The drying grasses caught flame, but did not last.

He landed down by the near-victim, who scurried away, a yelp escaping as El drew close.

Fine.

El hadn’t expected a thank-you, hadn’t expected any acknowledgement of what he did at all, but still, anything other than fear would have sufficed. 

The fight continued on in such, slashing, fires, flying.

El had never felt his blood run so hot. Never been able to summon flames as a human, either, but he had a guess as to why.

This was it.

This was his first chance at redeeming himself. He was fighting for everyone who had fallen. He was fighting for his absent companions, he was taking the first step in taking back the world.

When he changed a moment to take stock, El felt genuine relief to see that their enemies numbers were steadily dwindling, and the fighters that remained on their feet were holding their own.

In fact, the only one who seemed to be struggling was… Hendrik.

Still on horseback, but with more foes to count, El ran, hurrying to join his side. Only to choke, struggle and stop as the pain in his chest returned.

Without a moment to catch his breath, El tumbled down to a single knee, drawing in a heaving breath as he felt sick. 

“Behind you!” Hendrik called as El fell, and just in the corner of his eye, El saw one of the undead raise its weapon above his head, but he couldn’t move in time to raise his sword to block.

In a flash, Hendrik was down from his steed, and his sword cutting through the vertebrae of the skeleton. 

“Never let down your guard.” Hendrik said as the thing faded to dust, and offered a hand, pulling El to his feet. The pain persisted as he closed in behind Hendrik, back-to-back in the same way he once fought with Erik, but with none of the comfort, none of the practiced ease.

The horde had grown in number once again, a fresh wave of the creatures coming from the shadows. 

“You will need to pull your weight if we are to escape this one.” Hendrik said, sparking even more embers of El’s fury to light. “Have at them!”

But it was good to be this angry.

In this cold of winter, his own fire was what he had to count on to keep him warm, and in this scale of battle, his fire is what he had to keep himself alive, dragon form or no. 

The fight passed in a haze, moving on instinct until suddenly, the attacks ceased, and El stood back. 

A horse, black as night with eyes of blank nothingness drew forward, an empty suit of armor atop its back, an iron morning star in one hand, while the other held a shield, its uncanny face of sad eyes and a jaw hanging low speaking softly, as if it was mourning something. 

“Our beloved commander, brightest and best of the Spectral Sentinels, spake truly when he spake of thee, Sir Hendrik. Thou art without a shred of guile!” It’s voice rose in a mocking tone, “Any other would have fled the field long ago!”

El kept his eyes on the small fry while the thing spoke, waiting for one of them to break rank, ruin what barely scraped by as control, and restart the fight as it had been.

But Hendrik was focused on the headless honcho. 

“But I have no complaints! Our reward for tearing you limb from limb will be a handsome one indeed!” It’s gaping maw somehow managed to stretch further as it laughed. “Kill him!” It ordered its followers forward, and El braced for its attack.

El remained focused on the headless honcho, sending a flaming blade down it’s front, while Hendrik cast a buffing spell.

That caught a glance from El. He hadn’t realized the man had any skill with spellwork.

But his momentary surprise aside, he kept focused, and forced down his pain as best he could.

This was not a fight he could afford to stumble through.

El tried to stay out of range, in the air, and focused on casting spells.

But try as he might, he was unable to summon any lightning as he did in Sniflheim.

Krystalinda has said his dominion was over fire and lightning… But it seemed as though she had been wrong.

Lightning was the power of the Luminary.

Just another thing he lost.

The fight was over quicker than El had expected it to be, when the headless honcho took a hit, and vanished into smoke just like any other monster, prompting the rest to retreat.

Only when they were all out of sight, did El allow himself a second to falter, his grip on his blade going slack, and his tired wings folding in. 

This was the first battle.

And he’d won.

~~

His mother had not been at the gate to welcome the soldiers home, and her missing presence had only stung for a moment. 

He hadn’t the time, he had to see the King.

He’d have a chance to say goodbye to her later.

When El found his way back, Hendrik was on a knee before the king, head bowed as he spoke, as if he wasn’t the one who had just saved the entire Bastion.

El had begun to feel a sinking pit of disdain for royalty, even as he and Jade were both heirs to their respective kingdoms, nothing to inherit or not. Carnelian and the Sultan both seemed to be the result of too much luxury, too soff lives. 

Only Frysabel had managed to retain his respects, actively protecting not only him, but Krystalinda as well, looking to better her kingdom and solve the mystery of the dragonspawn’s disappearance. 

“It seems we owe you a debt of gratitude.” Carnelian said as El stopped at Hendrik’s side, but did not bow.

He was not a subject of this king, and he was not about to act as one. “You have proven your strength. And your ability to work together. It is time — time to bring light back to the land. The fiend that usurped my throne must be ousted. Heliodor Castle must be reclaimed. And you, my loyal servants, must lead this charge.”

“B-but sire—!” Hendrik protested, getting to his feet at last.

El could not keep the sneer from his face. 

He didn’t know what had come over him. But suddenly, he didn’t care.

“Is something the matter, Luminary?” The King asked, eyes narrowing.

“I am not your servant.” El spat, feeling every shred of resentment he’d ever had towards the king float to the surface, and suddenly, he wasn’t staring down a humbled King, but the one that had ordered him locked up a year ago, iron spearheads pressing into his flesh, the words that failed him then giving him strength now. “The Luminary serves not royalty, but Yggdrasil.” El knows his fangs are visible. 

He doesn’t quite care. “As should the throne.”

He feels Hendrik’s shocked eyes on him. 

He still can’t muster enough energy to give a shit. There is no dungeon here to be locked in. 

He is not of Heliodor, his heresy means nothing. 

“I am fighting to bring the light back, but it is not for you, or your benefit.” He feels his voice rise in volume, and enjoys the feeling. He’s sure he can be heard through the tent. “I’m bringing it back for every person, every creature,” he takes a step forward, and let’s smoke blow from between his teeth. “Not just for the ones who sit on their backsides while others work, and bleed, and die.”

Hendrik does not speak. 

Carnelian glares, but too, remains silent. 

El turns to leave, the satisfaction in his gut more than enough, but Hendrik stops him, ever the trained dog. “You think you may speak to the Crown in such a way?”

El doesn’t look over his shoulder. He keeps his eyes on the two guards on either side of the door. “And what stops me? Will you arrest me? Hang the Luminary for heresy?” Without a response, El moves forward, out into the night air.

Down the stairs, and halfway down the path to the Bastion gates, Amber stops his path.

She’s looking at him oddly.

“Your eyes are red.” She says, and El feels cold.

Is- is that where his angry words had stemmed from?

Or the power he used to have spoken them? “You’re leaving again?”

El swallowed around the lump in his throat. “I am.”

“Will you be coming back?”

“It might be best if I don’t.” El answered, “What I-“

“What you said to the king.” Amber interrupted. “Most everyone could hear you, child. It’s not like you to raise your voice.”

“No.”

“It needed to be said.” Amber told him, “But you didn’t answer my question. Will you be coming back?”

El hesitated. He didn’t know. He wanted to say yes. But he was not in full control of himself, he knew that now. He had to fight not only for his own consciousness, but he had to fight the sudden attacks of his broken bond.

How long he could carry on this way, he did not know.

“They’re blue, again.” Amber said. And El blinked back at her. 

“I’ll be back.” He answered. And he meant it. He wouldn’t leave Amber on her own. He wouldn’t leave his village to crumble underneath Heliodor’s influences.

“Luminary!” Hendrik called from further back on the path, and El fought the urge to fly off.

But - 

“Sir Hendrik, would you mind waiting just a moment? I would like to have a quick word with my son here. I won’t be long.” 

El almost balked at the tone she took with the knight, and came even closer as he obeyed with a simple nod. How his mum had managed to get the knight so passive - well. He’d been at the receiving end of that tone of voice for years.

He understood how it happened. 

“Listen, El,” she started over, “When you were speaking of that boy of yours earlier… Promise me you won’t go giving up, okay? Not ever.”

I won’t. El answered in the way she was used to him doing. I promise.

“Go on, then.” Amber said. “Go on and bring back the light.”

El gave a nod, and what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

“Time is short.” Hendrik said as he caught up. “We must be on our way.” 

Amber’s face turned hard. “You’ll look out for my boy, won’t you, Sir Hendrik?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He said, and with that, moved on forward, expecting El to follow. 

Rain began to fall lightly to the earth as El stepped forward.

Bye, mum. He said.

And did not hear it back.

~~

Hendrick didn’t know what to make of the Luminary.

He was a skilled swordsman, a gifted spellcaster, and if everything his mother said was to be taken at face value… 

Well, mothers always tended to exaggerate, didn’t they? 

There wouldn’t be any benefit to embarrassing the young man if he brought up any of her claims to him. 

But still… He didn’t know how to go about speaking to the boy.

How to come across as anything other than the monster he was surely viewed as.

He tried to be kinder.

But he wasn’t very good at it.

“We should stop here for the night.” Hendrick decided as they reached the foothills church, and only watched for a moment as the Luminary gazed up at the falls.

He didn’t need to ask. He knew the story already, of how he escaped with the blue-haired thief on his back. 

“Luminary.” Hendrik tried to grab the dragon’s attention. “We need to take shelter.”

Not looking away until he had to, El follows into the church, where Hendrik starts a fire in the abandoned hearth, and El unpacks what appears to be a forge.

While it heats, Hendrik pulls out a simple sack, and offers some of the provisions inside to the Luminary. “It is not much, but-“

“Thank you.” He says simply, accepting the food.

The silence is awkward.

Hendrik knows he is not an easy conversationalist, or even so much as an easy person to be around, but this feels… Excessive.

He watches the Luminary out of the corner of his eye, trying to think of something to say.

His hands keep coming to brush at his hair, more of it falling into his face than normal, with the sudden loss of a horn.

“Does it pain you?” Hendrik asks. Between all of the boy’s dragon features, the horns are what threw Hendrik the most.

Devilish, he had thought.

But even when he’d seen the young man in action, when he had such blunt words for the king… Monstrous, demonic… These words were not something he found fit the boy.

“No.” The Luminary answers, “It’s just… Strange.”

“I can only imagine.” Hendrik responds, and he watches as El gets up, and moves to the forge, carefully selecting resources from his bag, before retrieving a hammer of all things from the tiny sack, and beginning to pound away at his project.

The time passes easy, as Hendrik watches the lump of metal slowly become an axe.

The tool of an executioner. Hendrik observes, wondering if he was about to pay for his many transgressions against the Luminary and his companions. 

“Please, take this.” Eleven was holding out his new weapon, but rather than as the threat Hendrik had expected it to be, it was a gift. 

He didn’t-

“I can not accept this.” Hendrik answered, trying to politely decline. He had already been so much of an obstacle to the Luminary, a constant, looming threat-

“Please.” The Luminary said again, “Your old sword is iron. It’s giving me a headache.”

Ah. That would make more sense. “Thank you.” Hendrik accepts the axe, testing its weight, and letting it settle against his back instead of his old one. “How did you know I am adept with this form of weapon?”

“Call it a lucky guess.” The Luminary simply responds, sitting a much more reasonable distance to Hendrik, now that his old sword has been moved away. 

“I have to ask…” The boy begins, “How long has it been, since Yggdrasil fell?”

“Just over three months, give or take.” Hendrik answers.

“It… It should be spring.” He boy says, almost in shock. “This cold… Yggdrasil isn’t around to bring the new season.”

“Correct.” Hendrik asserts, not mentioning how he had already wished that the tree had fallen in the summer months, instead.

The Luminary’s face is buried in his hands as he shudders out a great sigh. 

Hendrik feels as though he should comfort the boy.

But he doesn’t know how.

~~

So many months… He wasn’t too late for Erik by minutes. He was too late by weeks.

Again, El hopes that he is wrong.

That Derk was right, and Erik found a way to survive. That everyone did.

But his mind is filled with what-ifs, and worst cases, and he doesn’t know where to go from here. 

El needs to come clean.

But he doesn’t know how.

“I won’t be able to change.” El forces out. He isn’t sure exactly how much Hendrik knows about his ability, but he may as well get this over with. “I don’t know how long I was out, but when I’m a dragon, I- I lose what keeps me human. I become like- like every other monster.”

If worst comes to worst and he’s decided to be a danger, at the very least he’s away from the Bastion, he can make his escape quickly. He won’t be surrounded, and even if it’s against Heliodor’s finest soldier, there’s only one of him. He can make it. He won’t let it end here-

“Then do not change.” Hendrik answers, as if it is truly that simple. “You do not need your dragon form to win your battles. You have proven that today.”

But even in human form it seems as though he can lose control… 

“I may be a hindrance.” El continues. “I lost… I lost my bond. And I can’t control when the pain attacks… You saw one, when I fell in battle.”

Hendrik narrows his eyes. “Your bond?”

After El explains, he scoffs. Not in anger, but in disbelief. “On the run from Heliodor and on a journey to save the world does not seem to me like a wise time to create such a bond.”

“I didn’t mean to.” El defends, “it just… Happened.” He looks at his hands, helpless to do anything more. “I didn’t mean to.”

He doesn’t see the remorseful look pass over Hendrik’s face. “Get some rest, Luminary.” He says, “We have an early start to make.”

He does notice, just a little later, that Hendrik is kind enough to ignore the barely audible sobs as the pain becomes too much to bear.

~~~

Scaling a mountain is a much easier thing to be done when one has wings.

Having the patience for someone else to scale a mountain is much less easy when one has wings.

But through the sewers they go, the odd nostalgia choking El more than the putrid air.

The sewers are mostly empty, and the two make an easy climb to the bottom level of the castle, until they reach the main hall of the castle.

El can only muster up contempt as he sees the place in ruins, but Hendrik hurries to the staircase. “Even this lies in ruins…” He sighs, “You and I are not so different. We both know what it is like to see two different homes fall to ruin.”

“I’m sorry?” El asks, hardly daring to raise his voice. “You-“

“I am originally from Zwarrdsrust.” Hendrik confesses. “One of very few survivors. The King was kind enough to take me in, give me a home and a purpose after my kingdom fell. He looked at the rubble, torn between grief and fury. Perhaps that is why I’ve been so blind to his faults. But never mind that now. The usurper will be in the throne room, if he is anywhere. We must seek another way up.”

Maybe- maybe El could carry Hendrik in human form over the hole in the staircase?

Even if it would be difficult- a light glow caught El’s attention, and to his absolute shock, the mark on his hand glowed faintly.

“Hendrik!” El hissed, “Follow me.” 

The glow led them to an empty courtyard, and a living, actually living, Yggdrasil root. It’s golden glow over took El’s and Hendrik’s vision alike, and they are left back in daylight after visions of Hendrik’s childhood with Jasper.

It felt so… Normal.

So harmless.

El was left wondering what drove Jasper to become the way he is. 

How long Mordegon had interfered with his thoughts. 

“Of course!” Hendrik burst out, loud enough to startle El. “The passage to the King’s chambers! But… what was that? A dream, a vision?” He turns to run an appraising eye over El, and the fading glow on his hand. “So this is your power, Luminary? You are able to draw on the memories amassed within the World Tree? To pry into others’ pasts? Very impressive.”

El couldn’t tell from his tone whether he was being accusing, or if he really was genuinely impressed, but it didn’t matter.

Hope. Pure, genuine hope was blossoming in El’s chest.

“That isn’t important.” He said, his heart beating a mile a minute. “This means She isn’t completely dead.”

“‘She?’ You are referring to Yggdrasil?”

“This is one of Her roots,” El explained, and the glow on his hand faded entirely. She was still alive, and his powers were not all gone.

They had a goal, and El had even more of a reason to keep fighting. The World was not dead yet.

The survivors had more than just a chance.

They had a future, and all El had to do was secure it.

“I did not make it here that night, you know.” Hendrik said as they came to the secret passage. “I was caught trying to slip out of my chambers. The King made me polish all the armor in the castle… Jasper was disgusted with me. We had a furious argument. So many, in those days.” His eyes narrowed, and his voice took on a furious edge. But at himself or Jasper, it was unclear. “But there was more happiness than strife. Life was simple. We had a purpose. We would have stood together in defense of Heliodor no matter what, and now…” he turned to face El. “I have treated you poorly. Forgive me.”

El took a step back as he bowed, and felt just a little sick. He wasn’t- he wasn’t anyone to be treated this way.

“My loyalties have been tested, but not by you. Whatever lies ahead, we must face it together. Will you stand beside me?”

El gave a simple nod, and they claimed the stairs together.

Whatever lay ahead.

It was not going to be good.

The throne room was not empty.

Plunged in the throne, feet kicked up over an arm, Jasper clapped slowly, sarcastically.

“You have done well to make it here, old friend. And with the darkspawn in tow, no less! Oh, bravo!”

“This is my fight.” Hendrik snarled at El, and without a shred of hesitation, Hendrik took the handle of his axe and lunged at his old comrade, a killing intent in every step.

But right as he was about to make his blow, Jasper vanished, reappearing right behind Hendrik.

“Temper, temper!” He said, sing-song in Hendrik’s ear. “Brute force may have won the day once upon a time, but things are very different now.”

He flitted away once more as Hendrik swung his axe.

“Why did you give yourself to the darkness?” Hendrik demanded the empty air. “What of our pact? What of our oath to Heliodor! We were supposed to protect the kingdom, together!”

“Why?” Jasper repeated, laughing as he reappeared in a puff of black smoke. “You, of all people, ask me why?”

The change was happening before their eyes-

His skin was already a sickly purple color, and claws had already grown in. But as he moved, as he flitted around them, toying with them as a cat would with mice, Eleven caught glimpses of things that had not been a part of him moments ago.

“Something amuse you, traitor?”

In a flash, he was in front of Hendrik, feet inches above the floor, arms spread wide. On his wrists, El could see white fur begin to ring like bracelets.

“Surely I am the one to ask you, why.” Jasper said, his staff swinging down to block the blade of Hendrik’s axe. “Why is it you always thought of yourself as better than me?”

The fight Jasper was making was pointless. His attacks made no contact, no damage. He’d be safer, at an advantage, even if he stayed away, but instead, clash after clash, he kept going.

El caught the flash of a tail beneath his robes.

“Why was it you who was always given the golden opportunities? Why was it you who always got what you wanted?”

He took a stand before the throne. “Well, no more. I will be second best no longer. There is one who sees the worth in me. Who deserves my fealty, who gives me the power I crave. All who stand in his way, all who stand in line, must be destroyed.” A purple flame grew in his hand, and with the flick of his wrist, it grew and grew, until it went spinning out at El.

A spell he knew all too well.

But before it could make its mark- Hendrick stepped between him, blocking the spell, but taking the force of the hit, sending him down on one knee.

“I lost my hometown… My family… My friends… All to the dark power you serve. I lost my faith, my purpose, when I was called ‘Hero’ I believed myself a fraud. I believed I was powerless to protect them. But I can! I have. I must. And there is one I must protect above all else.”

No. El said, even though Hendrik could not hear. Please- he couldn’t take this. This… pedestal he was being placed on. 

Hendrik forced himself back to his feet. “It is the Luminary’s fury to deliver the world from evil, and it is my duty to protect him!” He pointed his weapon across the room at Jasper, and called out a declaration. “Jasper, you are a traitor to your kingdom, a servant of evil, and a threat to the servant of light. I sentence you to death!”

Jasper didn’t move from where he stood. Only rolled his eyes, and moved his hair from his face. “Really, old friend? Forgive me if I do not begin quaking just yet.”

Hendrik gave one last attempt at an attack.

“Now, let us end this farce.”

Wings, spined with tattered ends along the membranes. Horns that curved back along his head, and spines running down his neck and over his wings…

El knew what he was immediately.

Somehow, Jasper had become just like him.

Without a last word to either of them, Jasper left, the first of many spectral sentinels taking his place.

~~

When their fight was over, and the morning sun rose, Hendrik and El left the confines of the ruined castle with a renewed sense of purpose.

They had an orb. They had each other to watch their backs.

They had a drive, they had a goal.

And really, that’s all they needed.

And El—

El had hope, above all else.

He didn’t know for sure what had become of Erik, and until he did, he wasn’t going to slow down.

~~

He knew very little about himself, and couldn't remember the important things. 

Like his name. Who he was. Where he came from. 

But he knew that hard times should bring people together, rather than split them apart.

But the people in Puerto Valor didn’t seem to understand that in the same way, or perhaps he was just wrong.

But either way, they were cruel.

They yelled at each other, at him, screaming matches and threats flying at the slightest provocation. 

He tried to keep to himself, to keep himself hidden, but that seemed harder than it should’ve been.

Perhaps it was his blue hair?

It had to be natural. Why would he dye it such an obtrusive color?

But that's besides the point. He seemed to easily get sidetracked, which was odd, he thought, since he didn’t really have anything to get lost in thought about. 

He didn’t have anywhere to go.

The inn turned him away with only a single glance. He knew he didn’t have any money, but he had this necklace… Surely it was worth enough for a night in a bed and a warm meal?

But even so, if there was no vacancy there wasn’t anything he could do.

The sun would be setting, soon, and it was already so very cold in the day.

He’d woken with frost in his hair only this morning, and he feared that if the temperatures continued to drop, that he wouldn’t be waking at all very soon.

He thought about leaving, about finding another town, but he’d seen the red-eyed monsters crawling the fields across the bridge, and he knew that trying himself against them would be suicidal. 

Besides-

A sharp pain burst through his chest, starting in the center and branching out through his ribs and lungs like a starburst. 

His steps faltered as the pain took away his breath, and dogged his vision.

He slumped against the wall he’d been keeping close to, and turned his back to it, sliding down to the dirty walkway, breathing shallow and quick, stars beginning to dance along his vision as it only pressed further.

He was sick. Or injured. Maybe both.

But this odd pain was coming in waves, it was not eased by anything he tried, and when the attacks came, all he could do was sit and ride them out.

Maybe he was sick.

Maybe that’s why no one let him close. 

They were just trying to keep themselves safe.

Yes, that would make sense.

He should keep his distance. 

A cold wind picked up, that chilled him to the bone. 

And really, why was he dressed like this?

The fabric of the tunic he wore was thin, not keeping himself insulated at all.

He was somewhat sheltered, here, behind a wall and some debris that used to be a house.

He could rest.

Just for a while.

He wrapped his arms around himself, hands rubbing up and down, trying to generate just a little heat. 

The corner of the book he had tucked into his sash caught him in the elbow.

He hadn’t yet opened it.

Now seemed as good a time as any, before the last of what passed as daylight here vanished.

He wondered why he had this book. 

Why he would need a book on dragons.

Was he a hunter? A poacher?

The way the journal was written didn’t lead him to believe so.

Old handwriting, faded and dated, not his own, he was fairly certain.

But in the margins… Notes and annotations, written in fresher ink, and scrawled much less carefully.

Was this his own? 

The journal itself went into detail about dragons, and how they lived alongside humans, specifically ones they chose to remain with. Their ‘Keepers,’ and how those bonds came to be.

Special spells, careful rituals, and shared experiences.

Some of the paragraph had been marked out, and a notecard placed between the pages.

A correction, in the newer handwriting.

With time, the need for spells and rituals faded, replaced with a seemingly inherent ability for these bonds to appear on their own.

He didn’t pay too much attention, the passive tones and constant back and forth leading him to only skim over the pages until the word “Dragonspawn” caught his eye, next to a hastily sketched human figure, sporting wings and horns.

Bonds with dragonspawn function differently, the notes read, listing off things that appeared as it grew. 

Telepathy, physical empathy, and one thing that stuck out to him.

Foresight. Non specific, but there nonetheless. 

All these things… He hadn’t seen a single dragonspawn since he’d woken up.

Maybe this journal was but a work of fiction?

But he kept on reading, until his eyes passed over something that made his heart skip a beat.

Broken Bonds.

Physical symptoms manifest in addition to psychological ones.

Chest pain. He stopped, and pressed a hand over his heart.

Was this why he had this journal? 

Was this pain a broken bond?

Had he once a dragonspawn with him, and now, where could he be?

Flashes came and went in his mind, appearing and vanishing faster than he could catch them, leaving him still cold and alone, with a single flash of golden scales, and blue eyes that was already fading.

He had one memory now, to hold onto.

It felt warm. 

He could hear rushing waters, feel wind in his hair, and a brand new spark of something in his heart.

If this was real.

If he had a dragon-

He would find him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know... I think if El had stayed put on that beach for just a little longer...  
> He would’ve found Erik right away...


	12. Lines Crossed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You have lost a great deal.” Hendrik said lowly, just audible over the winds. “I have not acknowledged that, and I apologize.“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been... just over a month since I last updated. I know that actually isn’t that long, but it’s been chewing at me for a bit, now.  
> I like to keep this fic updated every week, give or take a couple days.  
> But for some reason writing this chapter has just been like pulling teeth. 
> 
> It’s a lot shorter than the others have been, and I’m sorry about that. With the time I had you’d think it’d be a lot longer, especially since I intended this one to be the longest yet. But best laid plans, and all that.  
> I hope you enjoy it anyway!

Mount Pang Lai stretches to the clouds above them, and El feels his heart drop at the sight of the peaks fading into the clouds above. 

Even here on the ground it was almost too cold to bear.

He knew his movements were slower, and he knew that only the radiating heat from the smoldering ruins around was keeping him awake, but once they started climbing… He didn’t know how he’d remain as anything even resembling a useful fighter.

The sharp scent of snow was already in the air, and it made his heart ache.

The last time he went out in snow like that, El had ended up half-frozen and unconscious, kept alive only through Erik’s careful care- and how had El repaid him?

That morning they needed to leave for the Royal Library, Erik wanted El to remain in the cabin by the fire. He’d wanted either Veronica or Rab to stay with him. Two competent mages with plenty of fire spells.

El, of course, had refused. 

In the moment, he’d felt coddled. Like Erik wanted to wrap him in sheep’s wool and stick him somewhere safe. 

But looking back on it… He could only feel ashamed at how he’d behaved. At what he’d said.

_ “I’m not just some dragon!”  _ He’d yelled at Erik, no better than a child throwing a tantrum.  _ “And you aren’t my keeper!”  _ Erik had never tried to treat him as if he was just some animal. Never tried to insert himself as a caretaker. And really, El had lied. Erik was his keeper, just in a nontraditional sense. 

Erik hadn’t argued back, then. He stayed quiet as they all packed up to move on.

El had never even apologized.

He’d planned to, until they ended up fighting Krystalinda together, after which he’d honestly forgotten. And Erik hadn’t ever brought it back up. 

Not that he had much of a chance, anyway.

It was something that ate away at El, now. 

They hadn’t fought very much. 

But every angry word. Every negative emotion that echoed between them… He wished he could take it all back. 

“Come, Luminary.” Hendrick’s voice pulled El from his thoughts. “We have a long trek ahead of us. We best begin.”

El fought back a groan, and followed the knight. 

El hadn’t ever known anyone else that carried a cloud of awkwardness around them like Hendrik did. Even completely silent, and entirely focused on the task at hand, the air around them felt tense. 

Their trek began with those few words, but none others were spoken until they hit the snow.

“You appear pale — are you feeling unwell?” As clinical as any medic. Hendrik has slowed his pace, casting an appraising eye over his shoulder at the Luminary. 

Whether or not he was genuinely concerned wasn’t clear. He looked annoyed that he even had to ask.

“Just- just the cold.” El bit out between clenched teeth, fighting back a sarcastic answer. “I only need to keep moving.”

And again, they were both silent.

But it would seem that he wasn’t so forsaken. Just as the cold had robbed him of all feeling, from the tips of his fingers all the way through to the tip of his tail, El caught sight of a blessing.

There was a Goddess Statue ahead. 

El used to wonder about why they were placed where they were, who had been the person to carve or deliver them to the places they stood a silent, endless vigil over…

But he didn’t bother, anymore.

They existed where they did, and all that mattered was the protection they brought, and the rest El so desperately needed.

If there was one good thing to come of this curse, it was that he no longer needed any flint. Didn’t need to worry much about how they were going to start their campfire, and was able to simply breathe it to life.

Which also warmed him from the inside out. His dragon biology seemed to be a study in contradictions. Cold blooded, needing the heat of the sun, of a fire, of another body, to stay warm, but also having his own heat in the form of his fire.

_ His fire _ . It’s what he called it, but before the flames manifested themselves in the air, it was but a concept inside him.

He could feel the heat of it, right behind his breastbone, but there was no small flame burning away inside. If he was cut open, there would be no fire to see.

But it grew and it dimmed with the seasons all the same.

As the logs on the fire popped, and the flames were stoked, El began to regain some of the feeling in his blue-tinged fingers. 

They hadn’t even made much progress. At least, not by El’s standards.

If this had been…  _ Before _ , if it had just been him and Erik… They’d be at the mountain peak already. 

If he could just change-

But he knows better.

Growing steadily, El can feel the curse digging its claws in deeper. With every flame, every spell, every breath.

In this state, what is he really worth?

He’s no Luminary anymore.

He’s not even able to offer his abilities as a dragonspawn.

He’s just a burden.

Hendrik should be climbing on his own.

El should have stayed at the Bastion. Helped his village rebuild.

Fight for as long as he could, until he was but an animal.

Hendrik spoke up from the other side of the fire, looking at El suspiciously, as if there was something wrong with him. “You have lost a great deal.” Hendrik said lowly, just audible over the winds. “I have not acknowledged that, and I apologize. However-“

There was always more, wasn’t there? However this, but that… Why couldn’t it just end there, with the apology?

“- I understand what it is to lose everything. I assume you know of Zwardsrust and it’s fall?” 

“Just that it did fall.” El answered, “I don’t know anything about why or how.”

“Monsters. The same as Dundrasil.” Hendrik said, though he was no longer looking at El, and rather at some unknowable point just to the left of his ear. 

Staring at not the falling snow, but the flutter of ash as his entire home burned to nothing. “The Luminary had been born there, to a regular family. She wasn’t three weeks old when the monsters came. She died in the first wave, my parents in the second. I don’t know the number of lives lost that night.”

Shock holding him still, El hadn’t any idea of what to say. Hendrik has always been a solitary figure in El’s mind. Standing alone, fighting alone. He hadn’t stopped to think of the people around him, the family he might’ve had. 

To learn of what it was, and what became of them at once made El feel ill.

“I hated her, and the Luminary in turn, for so very long. Even more when you were born and your own Kingdom fell. I have already told you that I believe that is why I was blind to all that was wrong with the King- with  _ Mordengon's  _ story.”

As if El needed any more shame to add to the burden of it he already carried. “I- I’m sorry.” He said, not enough but not having anything more to say. “I don’t-“

“It is not your fault. Those born with the Mark of Light do not choose their burden, and an infant cannot invite war. I should be the one apologizing. I blamed you when you are no less of a victim than your people. But that is not the point I am trying to make.” Hendrik paused, taking careful time to pick his words. As if his speech wasn’t precise and meticulous enough already. “I let my own grief and emotions cloud my sense, and that led me to be deceived. I am telling you that you cannot afford to do the same. The Luminary cannot be distracted. Not if he is going to win this war.”

El still found himself at a loss for words, too much new to go over to focus on any one thing.

Zwardrust’s fall, then Dundrasil. Now, Heliodor. One by one, all the great Kingdoms of the world crumbling to ash, just because he was alive.

Just because he was born at all.

“I’m sorry.” El said, feeling some of his resentment, but none of his shame fade away. Hendrik said it was not his burden to bear… 

But Hendrik’s family. His entire kingdom-

El had known that grief when he found Cobblestone in ruin. “I’m so sorry. I- I won’t-“ El stopped for a breath. People always made it sound like letting go was easy. But it hardly seemed possible. He needed someone. He needed  _ anyone.  _ But that was the weakness he was being warned away from, isn't it? “I won’t let Mordegon kill anyone else.”

Hendrik did not speak through the remainder of the evening, and even though El made no attempt to spur on any conversation, he couldn’t help but feel as though there was something he was missing. 

The silence was painful.

It should be full of quiet conversation, the bubbling of a pot, the soft playing of a harp, the sound of whetstone on a blade.

But he didn’t know if those sounds would ever return to his camp.

And instead, all he had was the ringing in his own ears.

Too quiet, but so very loud.

El stayed close to the fire that night, somewhere halfway between sleep and wakefulness, sitting upright as close to the flames as he could get without burning as the fire dimmed down, getting up to relight it, to add more lumber.

The colder nights had been difficult enough before Yggdrasil’s fall.

But in this artificial winter, on a snowy peak, without even the person who’d-

He couldn’t sleep. He knew better than to try in this cold. El had no escape from his own mind.

The fire he breathed brought on a feeling of being trapped.

Trapped in his human form, but also… 

Amber had told him he had red eyes. Just for a few minutes, but all the same…

It was almost as if he could feel that he had them, now.

A perfect blood red, if he’d have to guess. The same that he saw on each monster they stumbled upon. 

How much of what he felt was really him, and how much of it was this curse creeping deeper into his mind?

He’d meant every last word he’d had for Carnelian. But the fact he’d said it at all-

That wasn’t him.

There was a fury deep inside that he was unfamiliar with. So close to the surface, scratching at his skin from inside, clawing to be freed.

How long before he couldn’t control himself at all?

El hoped Hendrik wouldn’t mind his sluggishness tomorrow. 

He couldn’t help it.

But he hardly seemed to be a patient or understanding man.

Even…

Even as he gained the ability to hear El’s more silent form of speech, he never bothered to use it.

That was good, though.

El didn’t know how he would react if suddenly Hendrik’s voice filled the silence that Erik’s voice once filled.

The night stretched on, and El did not sleep.

~~

It seemed as though there were two voices in someone’s head.

The first, that spoke in instincts, and the second, that spoke reason. 

The first had been what kept him alive this long.

It acted on impulse, like an animal. Told him when to run, when to stay and fight. 

The second was what kept him steady.

It didn’t do much, those first few days while he scrounged around in Puerto Valor.

It did even less the weeks after he left. 

It was surprising, how much easier it was to survive out among the monsters than it was to live amongst the people. 

The monsters didn’t care about the ruby red eyes that he saw in his reflection. 

They took no notice of the bright blue of the hair that fell around his eyes. 

Or of the two fangs that stuck out over his lower lip.

In fact, they hardly seemed to notice him at all.

They saw him, even a few came close to watch him as he trekked over the land, or the moments he had to take to rest.

But none had ever attacked.

That had given him pause. Made him think that maybe there was more to why the people didn’t want him near than just his appearance.

He almost decided to remain with the monsters.

But it was cold.

Toxic smoke burned all around.

And he had been so, so hungry.

The trees might once have borne fruit, but the plant life around was all barren, now.

The crowded town with the beautiful red buildings was celebrating.

The streets were full of people and the air was thick with the smell of barbecuing meat. 

He didn’t know what had happened to bring these people so much happiness in a time of such scarcity, but he hardly thought to care. 

If they had this much to make, surely they wouldn’t miss just a little… 

Just enough to keep him going.

He’d be gone before they even noticed he was here.

He didn’t blend well into the swarms of people. But, somehow he didn’t think he needed to. Everyone was overfed. Drunk. 

The first voice was telling him what to do. Don’t go too fast, or too slow. Don’t focus too much on any one thing.

Sneak up close.

Wait for a clear moment.

Just wait…

And wait…

But he didn’t get the instruction to swipe.

Instead, his own wrist was taken into the bruising grip of another. 

“You!”The heavy-set man had his face far too close. Erik had been able to smell the liquor on his breath. “You aren’t from ‘round here. Whatchu gettin’ at? Bargin’ in on our celebrations?”

Someone hadn’t known what to say. The first voice screamed at him to run, to fight, but he couldn’t get his wrist away. He didn’t know how to fight.

This was when the second voice first found its use. He pulled his free hand in close to his chest.

“I- I’m sorry,” he had stuttered out, letting the second voice take over. “I didn’t mean any harm. I’m just passing through.” 

“‘Didn’t mean any harm’?” The man bellowed with drunken laughter, mocking the way his voice had stumbled over the words. “We don’t have the supplies to spare for  _ wanderers _ .”

That- “Then why-“ He had cut off his own question before he could finish asking it. They were drawing a crowd, and both voices were telling him that finishing it would have been a bad idea.

“Huh?” The man’s grip tightened, pins and needles starting to prick at his hand. “You have something to say?”

“N-No.”

“I think he did.” Another man said, coming up to Someone’s other side, blocking him in. “And I think he oughta speak his mind, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” the first man agreed, pulling high on Someone’s arm, forcing him almost off the ground. “Go on, then. Speak your mind.”

“T-then why,” fear was overwhelming. He knew he should stay quiet. He knew that they wouldn’t take well to what he said, but there was a little something new he was feeling. Something he hadn’t yet stumbled upon, but it was here now, and he wasn’t going to waste it. He was still shaking, still afraid, but he was able to force away the tremor in his voice, and sneer at the men. “Then why are you wasting so much?”

His words had about the same effect that he had anticipated. 

The smug look the man wore faded, and his face was red with fury. 

He was done toying with him.

_ Run! Run! _ The first voice screamed, but he couldn’t follow it.

“Not givin’ our supplies to abominations like you isn’t a waste.” For one hopeful, deluded second, he thought the man was going to let go. That he was going to be able to leave.

But, of course, he wasn’t. 

The man took a knife from the table next to them, where a cook, long since fled, had been chopping vegetables.

The blade wasn’t meant for fighting.

But it would do for what the man had in mind.

“Do you know what the punishment for theft used to be?” The man asked, letting go of his wrist. 

Someone tried to bolt, but it was no use. He was surrounded, tripped and pinned to the ground in seconds. “‘Course this was for stealin’ things like jewels or money, important stuff. But these days, I think food would count, too. Don’t you?”

“I’m sorry!” Someone said, beginning to beg. He didn’t have anything to bargain with. He didn’t have anywhere to go. “I’ll leave, you won’t ever see me again!”

He should’ve stayed outside the town. He was safer with the monsters.

“Too late now, kid.” The man sounded too happy about this. A bloodlust he couldn’t understand, but one he didn’t care to. Someone caught the glint of the metal blade, and tried to wrench his hand free. 

He didn’t get to safety, but just barely missed losing a finger.

Instead, the knife buried through the back of his hand to scrape at the brick pavement below.

White static filled his head, and he bit down hard on his lip to hold in a scream.

He didn’t know why he needed to.

But there wouldn’t be a point in it.

No one in this town was coming to his aid.

“This’ll all be over quicker if you just,” the knife was yanked free from his flesh, “sit still!”

And this time, he couldn’t help but scream. He saw red. Tasted it, too.

_ Run! Run! Run! _

He wished the voice would shut up. Did it not think that if he could, he’d be halfway back to where he came from? 

The man reared back, and Someone looked away, bracing for what was to come.

Only-

All that followed was the sound of steel skittering away. 

“Get-  _ off! _ ” The voice was the man’s but there was another sound.

A growl.

Inhuman. 

The weight pinning him to the path was gone in an instant as the man was pulled off him, and his friends abandoned their job in favor of facing their new target.

He almost didn’t want to look.

Didn’t want to find out what worse fate had decided to throw at him.

But-

He pushed up from the ground, and-

Dragon.

A dragon- _ man _ . 

There were three others, one wearing ridiculous feathers, but even as they took over, he hardly took notice of them.

The dragon he was trying to find… Seemed to have come to  _ him. _

Golden scales. One horn. Two wide wings, a  _ tail _ , even. The first voice was still screaming at him to run. Even louder now, danger signals blaring in his head. 

But never before had the second voice so loudly told him to stay.

His eyes were wide, and as if he recognized Someone, he reached forward to offer a hand up-

“Behind-“ He only got out half the warning before the empty bottle was smashed over the dragon’s head. 

Thankfully, the blow was poorly aimed, and the brunt of it only caught him around the horn.

In a moment too full of events for him to properly break down, he was forced against the ground again. Only, this time… 

His head was held above the paving, close to the dragon, who had spread his wings wide in a barrier between him and his attackers.

The growl was back full-force, and he could feel the vibration of the sound through the dragon’s chest.

They were really-

He could hear, and just barely see, the people who had all come to his rescue. 

He believed they were there.

But he just couldn’t figure out  _ why _ .

He wasn’t anyone.

He wasn’t worth the effort-

He wasn’t worth the red blood that trickled down the dragon-man’s face. 

“Fucking-  _ monsters _ !” He flinched at the sound of the man’s voice. “You two- you two are human! Why are you sidin’ with those, those-“

“Because who else will?” The person with the feathers said. “Ellie, get our dear Erik somewhere safe, alright? Don’t worry about us.”

“Right.” The dragon said, and his stomach dropped as he was taken into the sky.

He froze with terror.

Unable to speak. To move. To think.

He was hardly able to breathe until the dragon set him down on solid earth.

And even then-

His knees buckled, sending him to his hands.

He fought to catch his breath.

Thankful to be away from that horrible town but terrified of what was happening now.

But again-

He didn’t know what it was for something to be familiar.

He didn’t have anything that would make him feel that way.

But there was something so-

So very  _ important  _ about this person.

“Erik-“ The dragon-man’s voice was almost too soft to be heard, overflowing with disbelief. “It’s really you-“

Someone cut him off, hardly taking notice of the name he was called. The first he had heard it, at the moment not even realizing that it had been meant for him. “It’s you, isn't it?” He asked, thinking of the little journal he carried. “You’re my dragon, aren’t you?” Everything was silent. 

The crowds were still noisy, and he knew that the others were still fighting to keep the angry drunks away from them both, but it was as if he had attention only for the dragon.

And the dragon… He’d looked as if he’d been torn apart. 

Blood was still dripping from the wound on his head, and there would be a bruise on his face come morning, but that wasn’t what Erik had focused on.

It was the shine of unshed tears. 

The dragon’s arms closed around someone’s shoulders, and he was pulled into his lap. 

_ Run!  _ Screamed the first voice, telling him to hightail it back into the wasteland outside the town. That whatever was happening wasn’t safe.

“Yeah,” he said, face pressed into Someone’s hair, as if he didn’t care for the blood and dirt.

“I’m your dragon.”

But… This time, the second voice claimed victory. 

He was right. 

Even if he couldn’t even remember his own name, and he hadn’t a clue who this person was, something inside him, something basic and primal, buried all the way into the heart of his mind, told him something different.

Slowly, unsure of himself, Someone, no-  _ Erik  _ closed his own hands around the dragon’s back. 

_ Safe _ , this new third voice told him.

_ Safe. _


	13. Unnerving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sylvando had said that the curse changed the appearance of some, and the hearts of others.  
> But frankly, he found it hard to believe those people still had hearts at all.

“What is the last thing ye remember?”

The questions were not unkind.

“Waking up on the shore, not too far from here.”

And even though the answers he gave were not the answers they wanted, they didn’t turn cold.

He was still safe. And safety, Erik has learned, is the best feeling in the world.

“Can ye tell us what your name is?”

He could, but only because he had heard it already.

“Erik, I think you said? Is that right?” 

The cut on his hand had stopped bleeding, and the bandages were just a little too tight, but the stinging pain that remained was hardly an issue. 

“Are ye feeling ill? Dizzy?”

These people  _ cared  _ about him. All of them did, it seemed. Even the rather…  _ Intimidating _ one with the purple hair. He was standing just a little further away from the others, but he was looking on silently, brows furrowed in a frown.

It was all so overwhelming, to be safe.

The dragon still hadn’t really let go of him, an arm around his back and a wing stretched out behind him to shield from the wind.

“A little.” Erik answered as the old man felt through his hair for bumps or scrapes. “I’m okay, though.”

“‘A little’ is still too much, dear.” The last one in their group, with brightly colored feathers and markings around their eyes finally spoke up. They’d hardly said a word up to this point, a hand held over their mouth and looking mere moments from tears the whole time. “You’re sure you don’t remember anything?” 

“I can’t find anything wrong,” the old man said, pushing to his feet, “But he certainly isn’t well. The boy needs rest and healing.”

“I’m sorry.” Erik said, as the dragon helped him back up. “I really don’t remember you all.”

“Are you sure this is your former companion?” The purple-haired one spoke up. “He does not seem to be-“

“Of course we’re sure.” The dragon cut him off, voice firm and louder than it needed to be. Erik flinched at the harsh tone, drawing back unconsciously. He didn’t mean to. He wasn’t afraid, at least, he didn’t think he was. It was just all the sound and emotion… His sudden movement in combination with the stress of the evening and his still empty stomach nearly sent him back to the earth.

It was only the dragon that kept him upright, noticing his lightheadedness. 

He was still speaking, but whatever it was he was trying to say was lost on Erik, his hearing and vision both clouded by the swim of stars in his eyes and rush of blood in his ears. 

Until there wasn’t anything else to be seen.

El stopped yelling the moment Erik went from only partially leaning on him, to being deadweight. 

He wasn’t unconscious, but he wasn’t far from it. 

As upset as Hendrik’s question had made him, El couldn’t really fault him for it.

This person hardly seemed like Erik at all. So soft-spoken and careful, as if he thought one wrong word would bring about the end of the world. 

But it was him, bond or no, El would know him anywhere, no matter what state Erik was in. 

El looked to Sylvando, “Could you lend me a hand?” They were the only one El felt he could trust, right now. Hendrik’s presence still sent danger signals flaring in his mind, and though he knew better than to think that Rab would do anything to hurt Erik, but at the same time… 

Rab and Hendrik both still remained human. While Erik hadn’t changed all that much, his red eyes alone were enough to attest to the fact that the curse hadn’t spared him. 

He wasn’t in his right mind, El was under no illusion otherwise. Logical or not, he didn’t want anyone coming too close to Erik.

“Get the boy back to the ship,” Rab spoke as if he hadn’t noticed the hostility his grandson had regarded him with the entire time he’d been trying to heal Erik. “The lad may well just need sleep and a good meal, wait until his fever breaks, and he could regain his memories.”

El doubted it would be that easy, but still tried to believe that the answer to this problem somehow could be that simple. 

Erik settled carefully against El’s back, in the space between his wings, and El’s arms holding around his legs, Sylvando stepped back. “Be careful, now.” They warned, even though El was in no more control than they were. 

“I’ll fly low.” El promised. It would take longer, but they weren’t too far from where the ship had been docked. But he hadn’t any intentions of trying to go very high, or Lessing the time it took at all.

Erik hadn’t screamed when El had taken flight before, but he hadn’t needed to for El to know how scared he was. 

“Hold tight,” he said, Erik only just aware enough to listen, holding his wrists in front of El’s chest. “I’m going to fly again. It’s safe, I promise.” El couldn’t remember if he’d ever had to promise that before, or if Erik had trusted him enough not to need him to.

Again as he took off, even staying below the cloud layer, he felt Erik tense, just aware enough to know what was happening. 

It was always quiet in the sky, but never had it been so silent. 

The ground was almost completely devoid of movement, all to be seen that of monsters seeking out prey.

Prey that didn’t exist.

The toxic smoke easily killed nearly all of the small game in the area, and that which remained had taken to their burrows, seeking out what little safety that remained. 

There were no travelers to be seen, all the humans remaining in their towns, shut and boarded tight into their homes. 

Not even a single song bird to share the sky with. 

Or a word to break the silence. 

Erik didn’t speak, and El did nothing to try and encourage it. 

The flight was shorter than he had dared to hope, but with the sky clouded with rain that would not fall, and the sun hidden carefully out of sight, there wasn’t a single way to judge how much time had actually passed.

After landing on board, it was instinctive to take Erik to the small room that they had shared. 

Nothing felt wrong until the door slid shut behind them both.

Before, they hadn’t needed any more space than what the small room had allowed them, more than content to share so that the others didn’t have to. 

Now, though… 

Erik didn’t know him. Didn’t know any of them. More than that, he was afraid. Possibly not  _ of  _ them, but there wasn’t any way that he wasn’t at least unnerved by the people who came to his aid, suddenly taking him back with them, claiming to know him or not.

With a feeling of slowly spreading cold, El realized that this was the source of their broken bond.

He didn’t know what it was that stole Erik’s memories from him, and he wouldn’t. Not unless they somehow returned.

Erik sat down heavily onto the thin mattress, his face flushed with the fever and visibly unsteady. “Thank you.” He said quietly, looking more at the ground than he did at El. “You didn’t have to help me, but - thank you. I’ll pay you back, somehow. I promise I won’t be in anyone’s way.”

“You don’t owe us anything.” El answered immediately, and though he wanted to do more to comfort him, he knew it wasn’t what Erik wanted, or even knew to expect. “We aren’t helping you to gain anything.”

“Still…” Erik started, but failed to find anything further to say. “You saved my life, and I don’t even know who you are. I can’t just-”

“You’ve saved my life, before.” El spoke before he realized he was going to. “More than once, and this isn’t the first time that I’ve saved you.” This was wrong. He felt the surreality all too close. 

He shouldn’t have to say that to Erik.

He should  _ know- _

He should know that there wouldn’t ever come a day that El wouldn’t do everything in his power to help him. 

But today, his power felt useless. There wasn’t any spell in his experience that could heal what Erik had broken. There wasn’t an artifact hidden behind a monster that could cure him. And even being here for him didn’t feel right. Erik wouldn’t-

Erik wouldn’t…

“Just- get some rest.” El said, feeling behind his back for the door handle. Erik was looking at him with something unreadable in his eyes. Unnerved, El looked away. “I- I’ll bring you something to eat in just a moment, okay?”

El heard Erik’s response through the hastily closed door. 

Just for a moment, in the corridor, El took a moment.

Hands pressed over his mouth in an effort to quiet his panicked breathing, he let the quiet facade he’d been putting up crack.

Erik was alive.

He’d found him.

But…

Red eyes that held no recognition for him. Cold, empty air between them while it should have been filled with everything they hadn’t ever needed to say.

For the first time since El had met Erik, he couldn’t read him. 

For the first time since they’d met, El didn’t know him.

~~

Days had passed, floating idly on the waves without a destination or purpose in mind.

Waiting quietly for Erik to recover, though as each hour passed, each day passed, his strength returned, yet his memories didn’t, their resolve began to waver.

They couldn’t afford to wait much longer. Every minute counter in their fight, and as important as Erik was to their cause, it seemed as though they would have to make do without his skills. 

If they wanted to cross the sea, they would need to set sail with a route on their map soon. The region they had left held no more points of interest. Peurto Valor and Phnom Nohn both hadn’t welcomed them easily, no matter what they did and no matter what Don Rodrigo said. 

People had turned callous. 

After what they did for Phnom Nohn-

After risking life and limb to return to them what they had been forced to give up-

They still found it in their hearts to turn on him.

Sylvando had said that the curse changed the appearance of some, and the hearts of others.

But frankly, he found it hard to believe those people still had hearts at all. 

A town-wide celebration to thank El and his companions was nothing more than a reason to raid their own stores and waste what they could not afford to. 

El was a means to get what they prized the most back, and once he’d served his purpose, it mattered not what he did. 

He wasn’t a hero to them any longer.

Just another of the freaks they’d chased away.

Finding Erik should have been a reason to join their festivities. 

But nothing could ever go simply now, could it?

The flash of his blue hair in the crowd had stopped everything. Their plans, their conversation, all dropped in favor of finally,  _ finally _ having him back.

And when he was  _ attacked _ , for nothing he had even had a chance to do anything?

The roiling fury in El’s gut still hadn’t subsided. 

He hadn’t thought. 

Didn’t spare a moment of time to make a plan or consider what the consequences would be before he acted. 

All that mattered was getting that  _ filth _ masquerading as human beings off of him. 

And when he’d been attacked as well-

It didn’t bear thinking about.

Just how much he wanted to kill them.

He’d gone shock-still after the blow to his head, and freezing had nothing to do with pain. 

To keep Erik safe, to keep them  _ all  _ safe, he couldn’t move a muscle.

He knew in that second, stuck between Erik and those that wanted to hurt him, that the moment he let go, the moment he so much as took a single breath, the red that had encroached into his field of view would take over.

That he would lose to his curse.

That the talons he’d buried into the walkway would meet into the soft flesh of their throats-

_ “Elwood!” _

El startled out of his thoughts, and tried to blink through the fog. 

It was getting worse.

More and more he was losing his grip. 

They were all staring at him. Even Hendrik looked on, more concerned than frustrated.

“I’m sorry.” El said, trying to swallow back his embarrassment. “I didn’t catch what you said.” How long had he been spacing out? Not even Rab really used his given name anymore. For Sylvando to need it to grab his attention… 

For him to even respond to it…

Everything had changed. 

He didn’t care what name he was called anymore. Didn’t care what he looked like, what anyone thought. 

It was like Hendrik said, he couldn’t let his own emotions come before the needs of the world. 

Even though he could tell that everyone knew something was wrong.

Sylvando shared a quick glance with Rab, before turning their eyes back to him. 

They weren’t red. Still looked normal, even if they had been changed, too. 

El hadn’t noticed anything different about them at first glance.

Thought the bright color around their eyes was simply make-up, thought that the feathers had been a costume. 

Suffice to say he’d been surprised to find that he was wrong. 

It had been brief, but seeing Sylvando leading his parade, only  _ half- _ filled with others like them. Sylv has managed to recruit not only those that had fallen victim to Mordegon’s curse, but even some that still remained human. 

“Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head about it.” Sylvando said, all forced false cheer. “All I asked was if you still think heading to Sniflheim is the best course of action. I know you wanted to talk to Krystalinda, but-”

“No.” El cut in, shaking his head. It was still important to find her, of course. He had to know what was happening to himself, he had to know if there was anything he could do to mend the break in his bond with Erik. But after  _ finding  _ Erik… “We’ll make it there eventually. But finding everyone else comes first.” 

The journey to Sniflheim was long. He couldn’t take that time, knowing that there were still people missing. He couldn’t risk anything happening to them.

His bond wasn’t the priority, here.

_ He  _ wasn’t the top priority here. 

He felt ashamed to have even thought he could take them off their track for his own personal needs.

No one said anything right away. No one was sure how to handle him, anymore. 

Not when he blew up at a moment’s notice, furious or grief-stricken by the slightest things…

He didn’t even know how much of what he said was really himself, at this point.

“Of course.” Sylvando said carefully, as if El was some kind of dangerous animal — well. 

If he acted like one, he may as well expect to be treated like one.

“In that case, why don’t you rest a short while? We can plot out our next move ourselves, yes?” Still holding that fake smile, Sylv turned to check with Rab and Hendrik.

“Aye, don’t ye worry about us, now.” Rab said, not looking up from where he poured over the map, “Go and rest, Elwood. When ye get up we’ll fill you in on what we’ve decided.”

Hendrik simply nodded, not adding his opinion one way or another.

El wanted to be upset about being shuffled off to bed like a child. He wanted to argue that he should stay, that he needed to be a part of the planning.

But-

As much as he didn’t want to be alone, he actually wanted quiet more. 

El waited a moment, staring down at the floor as if he was thinking about it. “...Alright.”

He got up, and tried not to groan aloud as Sylvando followed.

~~

The people who came to his rescue were…  _ odd _ , Someone — no, Erik. His name was  _ Erik _ — wanted to say, but he didn’t have much in the way of a frame of reference. 

Maybe they were perfectly normal.

It wouldn’t be any stretch to assume that Erik was the odd one out in the group. He certainly felt like it.

But either way, as kind as they seemed to be, as patient as they all were with him, he couldn’t help but notice that some things simply felt  _ off _ .

They way they’d look at him when they thought he wasn’t looking… 

So very sad… And it could have been for the memories he’d lost, it could have just been that simple. 

But somehow, he doubted it was.

They were keeping secrets. 

As well as they all seemed to know Erik, they hardly shared any of that knowledge with him.

Who were they all?

Where were they going?

What has become of the world around him?

Just a small few of the questions he asked, and the answers he was not granted. 

He deserved to know his past, didn’t he?

He deserved to know who his companions were.

He deserved to know why they sailed, even while the ports were closed and ships were anchored.

But he hardly ever got a satisfying answer.

It made him worry.

For what he was. He’d been suspicious at first, that maybe they  _ didn’t  _ actually know him. That Erik was a fake name, and they were just picking up a free pair of hands on deck. 

But he knew better. They wouldn’t have risked themselves for him if that was the case.

And then…

There was the dragon.  _ El _ , they all called him, but he had trouble holding on to names. At least his was simple. Only two letters. Surely that would be easy to remember. 

El he just couldn’t figure out. 

He was  _ always  _ staring, for one thing. 

Didn’t even try to hide that he was.

Erik didn’t pretend to know why, either. It wasn’t even as though Erik was the strangest looking person on board, between Sylvando and their feathers, and El himself with his wings, tail, and even the same red eyes that Erik had. 

No, it was something more than just what he looked like. 

And by hell he was going to figure it out.

Another door closed, another mostly-empty room. 

The ship certainly had more hidden inside than Erik could have anticipated, but it would only make his excuse about getting lost more believable if he was caught snooping around.

But then again, he shouldn’t be caught.

He had waited until after dark, until he had heard the closing of three separate doors, and even longer, just to be sure everyone was asleep.

He took his time, making sure each step fell silently, which seemed to be a much easier feat than he had expected. 

Silence and stealth seemed to come as naturally to Erik as breathing, with the corridor he walked down silent aside from the sound of the waves and the creak of the wood the ocean waters battered against. 

Just another mystery to add to his growing pile of questions. 

Whether or not his mind remembered anything didn’t seem to matter to his body. 

Between the way his hand fell to his hip, searching for a weapon he did not have earlier in the day when monsters had climbed aboard the ship, and now this… 

He was only growing more concerned as to who exactly he was.

The privacy of the people who had shown him such kindness no longer mattered.

He needed answers, and one way or another, he was going to find them. 

Though, it seemed he hadn’t waited long enough.

Erik hadn’t  _ meant  _ to eavesdrop. 

But he wasn’t meant to be out of bed, either. Ducking into the first unlocked room had seemed to be the best option at the moment, rather than standing his ground and…

And…

Well. He didn’t know how they’d react to him doing the opposite of what he’d been asked. 

He’d meant to tune out their conversation. Because of  _ course  _ they both stopped right outside his hiding place. 

But when he heard his name… Erik wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to learn something about himself.

They’d all been so secretive. As if there was some terrible secret about himself that they didn’t trust him with.

They tiptoed around him, careful in everything they said, to Erik and the dragon both. 

“Where are you going?” The one with the feathers,  _ Sylv,  _ Erik wants to say. “Your room is-“

“I haven’t been staying there.” El interrupts. “Erik’s been sleeping there.”

There’s a pause. “And?”

_ “And-  _ he doesn’t remember me. Or -  _ us.”  _ El sounds wretched. “He doesn’t remember anything.”

“Honey,” Erik hears the drag of their feathers against the floor. “What does that change? He’s still your Erik. We don’t know that his memories won’t come back. Under all the confusion, he still recognized you. He still loves you, even if he doesn’t know it right now.”

The rest of their conversation all but tunes out in favor of the ringing in Erik’s ears.

_ His dragon.  _ That was how he had addressed El before he knew his name. 

How right he had been. 

“It would feel wrong.” He hears El say quietly, almost as if he was ashamed, though Erik didn’t manage to catch what it was he was responding to. “He’s not himself right now. He needs space.”

“Does he?” Sylv asked in turn, “Or do you? It’s fine, either way. But darling, you do need to consider his situation. Right now, don’t you think he needs a friendly face?”

El didn’t respond.

“Just think about it, okay?” Sylv pleaded, “And do try to get some rest.” With that, they took their leave. 

Footsteps echoed in opposite directions, and Erik let himself slide to the floor. He hadn’t known… 

Hadn’t even considered anyone on the ship with him could’ve had anything more than just passing familiarity with him… 

Though in hindsight, as with everything else, it should’ve been clear. 

Here he was, snooping around in the dark like a thief, when he could probably have just  _ asked.  _ It didn’t take much of a stretch to think that his condition would’ve caused others grief, as well. They probably weren’t hiding anything at all. They were just… 

Had he always been this pigheaded, or was it new? 

The corridor was empty, and there were no new sets of steps to signal anyone else’s arrival. Still, Erik stepped carefully, moving silently and closing the door without sound. 

He did that without even intending to. 

The way he moved, the way he felt on alert at all times, even when he should be safe here, that’s what caused all this suspicion in the first place.

Nothing he did made a sound.

What kind of life had he been leading where that sort of skill would be necessary?

Erik didn’t know the ship well, nearly everything looking the same at first glance, but finding El surely wouldn’t be too much trouble. 

He followed the single cramped corridor further into the belly of the vessel, until only one single door remained.

It was a cargo bay, though Erik didn’t know where that knowledge came from. Was that something everyone knew, or was it a little piece of what he’d lost?

El noticed him right away, but didn’t react.

From where he had settled on the floor, in a corner by a stack of crates, his red eyes locked onto Erik’s red. 

Apprehension began to gnaw at Erik, though he pressed on. 

El made only the slightest of movement, but it was enough to catch Erik’s attention. 

He couldn’t tell what his expression meant, but with the way his tail drew in close and the glint of the low light off his talons, Erik felt like he had cornered a wild animal.

And really, that wasn’t all that far from the truth.

But… he wasn’t afraid.

“Erik, what are-” El wasn’t given the time, or the space, to finish his question before he had a lap full of Erik, and his lips were preoccupied with something much more important. 

He froze under Erik’s weight.

Was he doing something wrong? 

He hadn’t misunderstood. There wasn’t anything else that could have possibly  _ meant _ . 

He kept trying.

What else could he do?

But El-

El’s hands came up to press at Erik’s shoulders, pushing him away. “Does this- does this mean you remember me?” He sounded so hopeful. And that, more than anything else so far, made Erik feel like an outcast. But as much as El was hoping and praying that Erik remembered, he knew how likely that it was.

“I- No. I don’t.” There wasn’t any point in lying. No way he could even keep on a charade like that, without any knowledge he could fall back on. “But does it matter if I do?” If he could go back to normal, to whatever normal was to Erik, then maybe… Maybe he could become Erik. “If I’m still… If I am Erik- then why don’t you just treat me like him?”

“I-” El tried to begin, caught somewhere between shock and fury, “I can’t-”

“Why not?” Erik asked, nearly desperate. If he could just have one thing, one single, solitary thing from the life he had before… “After everything you’ve done for me… If I am Erik,” he says again, “If I am-”

“Stop saying that!” El yells, cutting off what Erik had been trying to say. “Just- just stop.” His voice lowered, and he buried his face in his hands. 

Erik had fallen back, unconsciously trying to put distance between them. “You  _ are  _ Erik.” El finally said, “You’re Erik and…” El trailed off, coming to the same roadblock he found the last few times he’d tried to find what to tell him about himself. What would have meaning, to someone who hadn’t anything at all? “...And you’re from Sniflheim. You’ve been traveling with me for over a year…”

Carefully, El took Erik’s hands in his own. Aside from the scar he’d gotten in Phnom Nohn, they were unmarred. He didn’t know how to explain what they’d been. Where they’d been. He couldn’t reconcile the lack of Erik’s presence within him, with Erik that sat in front of him. “So much happened to us. To the people around us.” Too much to go over in the time they had, things that El didn’t have the words to describe with any accuracy. Rage bubbled to the surface, not at Erik, or even at himself, but at Mordegon. At Jasper. At the world he had been born into, that gave him power but not enough to stop what he had been born to stop. “An entire year. We’ve been together for over a year and I can’t show you everything that happened. I can’t make you remember saving me from Heliodor, or finding Serena in Hotto. I can tell you what I said in the Champs Sauvage and what we did in Sniflheim but it isn’t the same-“ El looked up to meet Erik’s eyes, and again, though he had known him better than anyone else before, now he couldn’t even begin to decipher what he saw now. “I love you,” El says, realizing that he hadn’t yet, and there couldn’t have been anything more important to make him understand. “I love you and you did me, and I can’t make you remember that you did, that you were-“

“That I was your keeper.” Erik finished for him, startling El. “I know. Well- I wasn’t sure. But, I knew I had a dragon, but I didn’t expect that dragon to be - like you. But you’re right. I don’t remember any of that. It doesn’t… None of those names mean anything. Though, I can try. Please, let me try. We don’t know that I won’t remember.”

He was right, but El couldn’t muster up any hope that he was right, that he would remember. Nothing had gone well enough to make him believe anything would be a trigger, a tipping point, to spill an entire lifetime of memories back. 

But for Erik, for his sake, he could pretend.

“I’m not going to stop you.” He said, letting go of Erik’s hands to pull him in close, instead. Just for a moment, he could almost pretend the last few months was nothing but a bad dream.

Almost.

“Do what feels right. You aren’t indebted to anyone here and - and even if you don’t ever remember, then… Then that’s fine. I’ll still keep the promises I made to you.” No matter if Erik couldn’t fulfill his own, El wouldn’t stop until he had done everything in his power. He’d bring back the light, and if she was still out there, he’d find Mia for him, one way or another. 

For a moment, it was peaceful. The ship was silent, and as tense as it was, he finally had Erik back in his arms.

But the peace could never last.

The ship lurched beneath their feet, struck by something under the waves. 

Their balance thrown off, it was all El could do to keep them both steady, even as the crates and barrels tipped and fell around them.

That wasn’t any wave or storm surge, and it was too strong to be any simple monster.

El knew too well that there was something out there looking for him. 

On his feet, El took only the time he needed to tell Erik to stay below deck before he rushed off, heading for the open air above them. 

Though, if he had known what was waiting, he would’ve stayed below. 

The moment he stepped past that last threshold, a feeling not unlike being hit by Jasper’s zammle immobilized him. 

_ “El!” _ Four cries at once.

Erik hadn’t listened, kneeling at El’s side, trying to pull him back up.

Their attacker laughed, spells fizzling as they reached the waves of red magic enveloping them, a red orb held aloft.

The source of the magic holding El in place. 

“I’d stay away from him, if I were you.” The overgrown axolotl warned, another burst of dark magic emanating from the orb. “If Mordegon’s curse hasn’t rid him of all his sense yet…” The monster’s maw already hung wide, but it almost appeared to grin. “There is no need to actually fight you, not when you already have an enemy in your midst.” 

Wave after wave hit El, though made no visible effect on the others. “Now join me… In the blackest depths of despair!”

Reality swam in and out of focus, and El could feel every bit of the curse he’d suppressed bubbling to the surface.

His fears were realized. Pulsing in time to his unsteady heartbeat, the haze of red only became stronger and stronger.

He didn’t change on purpose. He hadn’t so much as noticed that he’d shed his human form until he looked to the ground to see not hands, but golden-scaled talons. 

He knew what happened the last he changed. 

Down a horn, up a scar. A blank in his memory that made him fear the source of the blood he’d tasted in his mouth.

And now, Hendrik. Sylvando. His grandfather.  _ Erik _ — All trapped at sea with him.

They were calling his name as their ship shifted along the new currents. 

They hardly knew what was happening.

More fool him, sharing so little.

Darkness fell swift, and El lost what little kept him human.

One last thought drifted through his mind before he faded entirely.

_ Four against one. They’ll survive. _

The sound of the ocean faded away. He could no longer hear his companions, or feel the batter of rain against his skin.

Though, he was still aware.

Blackness, on all sides. Like he was drifting through the lowest depths of the ocean, further than he had ever dared to swim before.

But the blackness did not last. 

He hadn’t expected to wake, let alone so swiftly, though…

It was oddly warm.

Sunbeam warm, too. Not the heat of a blanket warmed by the fire, nor the warmth of another body, but the warmth he knew from basking in the morning sun.

Hardly daring to move, he cracked open a single eye.

He wasn’t on the ship.

In fact, this hardly looked like Erdrea at all.

How could a place so delicate looking survive Yggdrasil’s fall?

Flowers growing strong, stretched as far as he could see, the green of the grass marred only by the cut of a river twisting through the field.

An odd feeling of disquiet settles over El as he took in the simple cabin that sat in the center of the land.

It felt all too familiar, and he could not place why. 

He thought he could see a merman settled on the roof, a line cast into the river, but the harder he looked, the less sure he was. 

His legs trembled with the effort of standing up, but eventually he was able to force himself to his feet. Still in dragon form, but his mind was completely clear.

He felt  _ normal _ , even. As if all the barely contained anger and hate was nothing but a bad dream. 

Despite the suspicion he felt for the place he had found himself in, El didn’t have much of a choice other than to approach the only other person in sight.

The valley was surrounded on all sides by towering grey mountains, and if standing alone posed enough to exhaust him, taking flight over a mountain range certainly wasn’t an option. 

In the blink of an eye, the flowers he’d been standing on were gone, and El instead found himself standing on the cabin roof, as if he’d been teleported.

The merman was gone, replaced by an unfamiliar woman.

“Oh.” The woman said, casting an appraising eye over El, as if she found him lacking. “It’s  _ you _ . Well, don’t just stand there — grab yourself a rod.”

El only blinked. She didn’t appear startled by his appearance, but he set that fact by the wayside as he considered the fact that she expected him to fish with her.

These streams were hardly deep enough for anything but minnows, and he was hardly in any shape to fish at all.

He knew from numerous attempts that a dragon’s paws were hardly suited for use with a fishing rod.

The unimpressed look she shot him convinced him to try, at least. 

She hummed in understanding as he sat on his haunches next to her, back arched low to keep at eye level.

He felt ridiculous.

Looked even more so.

But he did not complain. Didn’t care to. He didn’t know what this place was, did not know what this woman was. Found it best to just play along.

“You cannot change form?” She asked, “I suppose that makes sense, for your appearance in the Void to reflect your appearance in the waking world.”

The  _ Void? _ Every last second here he grew only more confused. He’d  _ been _ in the Void, not even months ago, when he found Rab. When Pang had quietly informed him how dire his situation was becoming.

How crucial it was for him to find a way to contain the curse.

He’d never fulfilled his promise to her that he would.

And now… 

He hadn’t been dead, then.

Maybe he was, now. 

El looked away from the still waters below, and nearly dropped the fishing rod in shock. 

“And what, pray tell, are you looking at? Something on my face?” The tone of voice the masked man took at complete odds with his appearance. 

El only managed a single shake of his head.

The  _ void _ . So much different than he had been shown before, but perhaps only shaped differently, by this strange being that inhabited it. 

“Alright, alright.” They said, voice still calm and smooth, “It is rather imposing, I agree. Why don’t we try another?”

Watching carefully, El gained no answers as they simply tapped a hand to the top of their head, and the blacksmith vanished in a puff of smoke, replaced by a much slighter man in a guard’s uniform. “Still no good? Well, if at first you don’t succeed…” A wry smile spread across their face. “An old adage you may want to stick close to, for the future.”

Tap after tap, she cycled through face after face. Each one just as foreign as the last, until they stopped again on the woman with the black hair and purple cloak. “Not settling on any particular form? Hm, is it possible you don’t know who I am?” They brought a hand to their chin, as if they had to think about who they were, the answer just as cloudy to them as it was to El. “Ah! I know just the face to use.”

One more tap.

And El startled, back going straight, the fishing rod falling from his limp claws, the sound of it hitting the water engulfed by the ringing in his ears.  _ That — that can’t be right!  _

Sitting next to him, plain as day, and smiling like El knew he should, was Erik. 

“In your world, I am known as the seer.”

No.

Not Erik. 

Erik was still on board the Salty Stallion. 

_ This _ was not his keeper.

The voice alone gave that away. It sounded enough like Erik, but he was never that flat. He wasn’t ever afraid of voicing what he thought, and even now, as lost and afraid as he was, he wasn’t ever so quiet, so emotionless.

“I see you’re confused,” They said. “I offer my help to those truly in need. I’ll give them glimpses into their future, the right decision they need to make. A promise of their safety. At a price, of course.” They waited, as if they expected El to speak, and when he didn’t, frowned. “You aren’t this quiet normally, are you?”

El narrowed his eyes at her, but remained quiet, unsure how to articulate the fact that he was, in fact, incapable of speech this way. At least, for the most part.

“This realm is not beholden to the same laws as the one you are accustomed to.” The Seer told him, “Dragon or not, you are just as capable of speech as I am.”

“What price?” He asked, speaking slowly, not quite believing them until the words were spoken and — oh. Oh,  _ no _ .

If he were human, he would’ve been red from the ends of his hair to his neck. 

It seemed as though Avarith was not an outlier, and just how dragons spoke.

Sharp teeth and a long snout were not a good combination for effective articulation.

But the Seer took no notice of the lisp, and continued on. “Well, that depends on what they need, and what they have to offer. Your  _ friend _ , here, years ago paid his price to find out how to save his sister. I didn’t think he’d be a repeat customer, but just a few weeks ago, I found him again. He had so much less to offer me, then. But his memories were a fair trade for his life, don’t you think?”

Before El could demand an explanation, he found himself plunged into a vision.

High above the earth, on a chunk of rock suspended higher than even the clouds, El saw Erik fight.

Heard the seer whisper in Erik’s ear, and demand all that Erik had to give. 

“Do what you have to!” Erik yelled at the empty air, freely giving away everything that he knew, just to live. “I’ll find him again. I’ll find him if it kills me.”

The scene faded from his sight, and El was left feeling hollow.

The bond hadn’t been broken on purpose. It was taken from them.

“Enough about him.” The Seer said, either not noticing or not caring for the waves upon waves of unmanageable pain El was feeling.

It was  _ sick. _ Nothing more or less, what this- this  _ Seer _ had done to him.

They had the power to save Erik, had done it before, and still took away everything that made him  _ him. _ “How’s the fishing? Caught anything?”

He didn’t bother to answer. 

“No, I didn’t think so. You’re not ready, just yet. But you will be, when the time comes. Until then, just be patient.” The Seer reeled in their empty line, and stood. “Giving up so soon…” 

El didn’t grant them the courtesy of a response. What else was left to do? He wasn’t the Luminary, not anymore. There was no mark on his hand, no golden light of Yggdrasil. 

One by one, the towns and villages of his world were falling, and even those that survived the monster attacks would lose to the elements, eventually.

He was no ally of humanity, anymore. 

“Ahh, is that all? Worried you’ve lost the power of the Luminary, are you?”

El glanced up at them.

“Well, I’m afraid there isn’t much I can do about that, but… You are mistaken if you truly think it has all been stolen. It is a part of you, as much as that fire that burns inside. Give it time, child. Just give it time.”

“The Fire is burning out.” El admitted to them. He hadn’t been brave enough to dare say it aloud while awake, but here… There was no one else to hear, it didn’t matter what he said.

The Seer hummed their acknowledgement, but did not answer it with anything concrete. “You’ve spent enough time here. It’s about time you woke up, don’t you think?”

Again, the world around El began to fade.

But it wasn’t inky blackness that took him this time around.

Instead, the gleam of sunlight off the water was what spread through his field of view, until the warmth around him faded.

_ “Go,”  _ He heard the Seer one last time,  _ “Save the world.” _

~~

Erik had offered to watch over El while he slept. 

He didn’t know exactly what it was that made him speak up. But he didn’t regret it. 

It was almost nice, having the quiet company.

It would have  _ been _ nice, if it weren’t for the current reason he was down here at all. 

El had lost himself to whatever it was that monster did. 

It was terrifying, seeing him lose control like that. And being able to do  _ nothing  _ to help. 

Just-

Sitting. Cowering.

While the man he supposedly loved was brought down by his own family.

While he  _ attacked  _ his own family. 

Or, at least, tried to. 

The others had all been prepared. They’d been  _ waiting  _ for El to snap, for something to change. And while Erik was thankful they were able to stop him, and keep him safe, he knew what it was that they did, and he couldn’t bring himself to agree with their actions. 

He’d read through the journal he held, and he knew what pain El must be in.

He was breaking the rules they’d left him.

He wasn’t meant to get within reach of the dragon. 

But… He certainly didn’t have a clean past, he knew that for sure. What reason did he have to follow their rules?

Erik was doing what felt right.

That was what El had told him to do, and now he felt ready to listen to that advice. 

And this… This felt right. 

Erik sat against the far wall of the room, the same wall that they had left El chained to.

For his own safety, and theirs. 

He knew that the chain was iron.

Knew that it must be burning where it touched his flesh. 

But for now, it was the only line keeping them safe. He didn’t quite have the stomach to remove it, even if he had tossed aside the rope that had tied his jaw shut.

His hands stroked over the smooth scales on top of his head, just around his horns, where it was pillowed in his lap. Light smoke puffed occasionally into the air, and while that should make it harder to breathe, while the weight on his legs should be uncomfortable, Erik didn’t mind either at all.

It felt right.

It felt natural. Familiar. 

If he reached out, he could almost see the faded edges of a memory.

But just as it came into focus, it would fade out of sight.

As much as he wanted his memories back, he felt as though he didn’t need them.

Erik was Erik, no matter if he knew exactly who that was. He had a goal, he had a destination, and with El, he could reach both.

No matter what El did, no matter if he lost control again, Erik would stay.

Little as he knew, El was safe. 

El was who he’d chosen, though the exact reason behind his choice still lay in darkness, Erik was willing to trust his past self with this. 

It may take time, but Erik was willing to stay and learn to love his dragon again.


	14. Slaughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dragon was close. Smoke rising in the air as it tilted it’s head. The animal in it was confused. Why wasn’t this human fighting? Why wasn’t it running? Not even playing dead, but a single hand reached out, inches from it’s snout.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally getting back into the swing of writing this fic!

_ It wouldn’t be your burden to bear. No more responsibility… No more suffering… Just this peaceful dark…  _

Awareness returned slowly, his mind in no hurry to rejoin the world that had sent him into this state, or strong enough to fight against the iron around his throat. 

It had been a while, since El had felt this burn. The cold metal had already sent the scales it touched to flame, inflamed and sore to the touch. But El did not pretend to be ignorant of its presence. He was an unknown force, now. Something that could not be properly trusted.

It was for the best.

He could manage with this, as long as it meant everyone was still safe. 

Except-

The light was dim, oil lanterns burning low, but even so, his eyesight had always been a strength. Even in the mostly-dark, he knew that it was Erik that sat with him in this prison. Laying back against El’s side, and El’s head resting in his lap, El found his mind drifting back to their first foray into the madness they are living through now. 

That first fall down the cliff side… Fishing Erik from the basin, and scaling the cliff side with the unconscious stranger cradled in one arm for a safe haven to rest in. 

The catalyst to the bond that grew faster than it should have. 

El did not regret it. 

He did not regret their escape, his imprisonment, leaving Cobblestone, or any part of their journey at all. 

Except…

For now. 

He couldn’t ever have imagined they would come this far, or struggle so much, and thanks to his vision, El knew for sure now.

Erik’s memories couldn’t be regained. 

He’d sold them, for his life, for the chance to find El again, and though he was back with him, he couldn’t even know that he had succeeded. Or that the sacrifice he made was worth it.

And that decision wasn’t up for El to make.

He couldn’t even for a moment pretend as though everything was fine.

The ship rocked beneath them, the iron around his throat burned like nothing else, but he knew that it was all that was keeping his mind his own in this moment. 

Just for a moment.

He’d like to go back to sleep. Try to ignore the movement and the pain, and imagine he was home.

Imagine that he had never left.

And maybe, he could just stay asleep. 

Like the frozen dragon in the fjord, lost to time.

But sleep eluded him, and instead all that was left were his own thoughts. 

And, Erik. 

Not a memory to his name, of El or otherwise, and still as kind as he was before. 

One hand loosely curled around the base of El’s missing horn, and the other tucked underneath the iron shackle, as if the extra centimeters of space would relive some of the pain.

Laying asleep against a beast that would have killed him without remorse, just to offer that said beast some comfort.

This person… His Erik, and at the same time, a complete stranger. Who’s to say that he would become the same person without the experiences that he had before he met El, or the likelihood that he would still want to remain by El’s side, without the memories of the journey they had taken together?

The pain started small, and for a heartbeat El thought that it came just from his own grief. But the sensation built, and within moments the agony he had been free from for days returned with a vengeance, striking through his ribs, sending sparks through his vision and setting his muscles into a lock. 

The storeroom echoed with the beast’s roars, a sound like clanging brass. 

Erik, still caught against his dragon, fared no better. Hands moving away from El to grasp and pull at the collar of his tunic, pulled suddenly from sleep and desperate for a single good breath of air. 

The sound travelled all too well across the ship, and the rest of their companions burst through the door, calling out words that El’s mind could not decipher through the attack. 

Through the haze, he could make out someone yelling Erik’s name, and then the pressure against his side is gone.

As the pain faded, El realized that Sylvando had pulled Erik from his grasp, away from the berserk dragon. 

And Hendrik, seeing the rope he had tied tossed to the floor, had taken it upon himself to hold El’s jaws shut, head forced to the ground. 

El didn’t fight back, remaining limp and lifeless even as Erik called for Hendrik to free him.

It was fine.

El knew they weren’t doing this because they wanted to.

“Laddie, say something.” It took a moment for El to realize Rab was speaking to him, and not Erik. “Tell us you’re yourself again.”

Before he does, El finds Erik’s eyes. 

He doesn’t look afraid like the others. Perhaps it’s just that he doesn’t know to be, but El takes it as a sign. 

His eyes follow the single droplet of blood that falls from Erik’s bitten lip. 

Hardly noticeable next to the attack they both had just suffered though, but still there.

Surely.

Though El could not feel it. He should. 

How wrong it felt, to not be privy to Erik’s pain and emotions.

_ It’s me.  _ El answers, and the arms holding his jaw shut loosen.Erik wasn’t ever afraid of him before, and he wasn’t now.  _ I promise.  _

It takes some convincing to get them to remove the chain, just long enough to give him the strength to change back human, but learning that he cannot change shape while in contact with the poisonous metal only triggers a discussion about bringing it back immediately after. 

El didn’t speak up during the argument.

Didn’t feel like he had a place to. Not when he could see the stark white of bandages wrapped tight around Sylvando’s arm.

There hadn’t been a wound there before, and even when El did speak up just to ask about it, he wasn’t told the truth.

Perhaps that was best.

His imagination was horrible enough on its own, and he couldn’t tell if the taste of blood in his mouth was real or imagined. 

It was best to not know. 

They decided against the chain in the end.

“We’re docked in Zwardrust.” Rab explained, leaving El and Erik for just a few minutes to compose themselves. “There’s been some odd rumor about an inn ‘round here, and we may as well check any lead we can grab hold of.”

“Right,” El said only to acknowledge that he heard Rab at all, pushing stiffly off the floor, one hand pressing against the stinging redness on his throat. It wasn’t as bad as he had thought. “Just- I just need a few minutes.”

As soon as the door closed, Erik spoke up. “It wasn’t that bad.”

El glanced up.

“The wound, I mean. On-” He cut off for a moment, struggling with the name. “-Sylv’s arm. I saw it, it’s just a couple of claw marks. You didn’t get the chance to cut too deep, or hurt anyone else.”

_ But I would have.  _ El did all he could to push away all the conflict he felt. “Thank you,” he said, “For telling me.”

“Yeah,” Erik says under his breath, looking at the floor and picking absentmindedly at a loose string on his tunic, “I would’ve told you anyway. I- all I know now is a blank. It’s terrible, not knowing what I’ve done or who I am.” He looks up, and the unnatural red color his eyes have become only serves to make El feel sicker. “I don’t want you to have to feel that, too.”

~~

Erik didn’t know what Dundrasil looked like, but the city at the bottom of the ravine hardly looked like a great kingdom. 

High dark colored walls jutted from the ground, but it wasn’t what Erik was focusing on.

Spread out around the town, tucked around the edges of the ravines, were simple camps. 

Tens and tens of people, camped around  _ outside  _ of the city. 

Erik followed his group, sticking close to his dragon and keeping his eyes down, away from the many people that all turned to watch them. 

“Sorry,” someone cut off the group’s path, hands held in front of his chest, “I’m gonna have to stop you there.”

“What is the meaning of this?” Hendrik asked him, gesturing at the people around them, “Is Octogonia overcapacity?”

The man grimaced, “Hardly. I’m afraid no one is getting in or out of Octogonia tonight.” The cloud covering shifted, just enough to light the clearing, and shine off the barrier encasing the town. “That thing went up a few months ago. Someone inside is keeping careful track of the comings and goings.”

“Then, all these people-”

“Some of us are from here, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some were coming from other towns, but we’re all stuck here now. I know it’s crowded, but you’re still welcome to stay.” The man cast a glance over El’s wings and Sylvando’s bright blue-green feathers. “We know what the other places are like. We aren’t turning anyone away.”

Hendrik thanked the man for his hospitality, and El led Erik to a clearer spot so they could set out their own bedrolls.

“We should do  _ something.”  _ El was trying to argue his case, but Erik was only listening with half an ear. He wasn’t arguing with any real hope of winning, or with any real emotion at all. 

Erik didn’t know how he could tell, but he easily saw that El was carefully staying neutral, not allowing any emotion on the surface. 

He didn’t understand why.

He hadn’t intended to hurt any of them. It wasn’t his fault at all, but the monster that had attacked them. “These people aren’t safe here. Any moment, monsters could attack.”

“That’s true around the world, El.” Rab spoke firmly, not taking in any consideration to what his grandson said. “I want to help as much as you do, but that barrier is beyond my abilities. There isnae a thing we can do.”

El didn’t respond. 

Erik didn’t understand much of what was happening, given only the barest of explanations of what had happened, and what it was they were going to do, but he still felt as if Rab was being too harsh. 

All of them were, to varying degrees. 

“El?” Erik whispered as the many camps began to darken, not sure of what he wanted to say, or what El needed from him.

“Don’t worry about it.” El said, turned on his side, facing away from Erik. “I never wanted to come back here, anyway.”

Hours pass without incident, Erik hovering on the edge of sleep, but never quite sinking low enough to sleep. 

The footsteps are near-silent, though the little sound they make against the dried out earth in the dead quiet of the ravine is more than enough to catch Erik’s attention. 

No one else seems to have noticed, and no one is disturbed by Erik getting to his feet.

He can’t tell much about the figure from where he stands, and that shouldn’t make him want to follow more, but it does. 

They could just be one of the many people around just heading back to bed, they could be perfectly innocent of anything going on, but Erik’s mind was screaming at him to follow. 

His footsteps are silent. 

He doesn’t disturb the dry grasses to kick loose stones, and stays not more than a ghost as the woman draws closer and closer to Octogonia, following the wide curve of the structure to stand behind the city.

She doesn’t even notice Erik is there. 

Not until she stops, and catches sight of his blue hair in the corner of her eye.

Her leg kicks out, foot nearly colliding with the side of Erik’s face, the only thing saving him from a black eye and broken nose the bruise he could have on his tailbone come morning.

“Erik?” The woman asks, light pink eyes wide and her voice a shocked whisper. “I’m so sorry, I never expected to see you here.” She extends out a hand to help him up, though sees his hesitance right away, and realizes that there was something wrong.

Erik struggles for the right way to explain himself. Not one thing about this person triggered any sort of recognition. “I’m sorry, do you know me?”

The woman’s friendly smile fell away, and instead of helping him up, she kneeled down to the ground with him. 

She moved slowly, as to not scare him. “Do you not remember me, or is it more than that?”

“It’s all gone.” Erik explained, finding it easy to confide in her. Maybe this was the vestiges of knowing her before, like the way he trusted El almost instantly.

Or maybe at this point he just trusted anyone who knew his name. “I don’t remember anything.” 

Her hand stopped just before she reached his face, and let it fall back to her side. 

“My name is Jade.” She tells him, “We were traveling together… You’ve hardly changed, actually. Aside from that.” She said, “Your eyes, though... I haven’t seen anything like that yet.”

His eyes? 

They were just about the only thing that he could pick apart from the others affected by the curse around him.

He didn’t have wings like El, or the vivid blue-green feathers that Sylvando had along their forearms or the color that almost looked like face paint, with the way it shaded their eyes.

“Are you alone?” 

“I’m not.” Erik answers, now allowing Jade to help him back to his unsteady feet. “I’m with El. And Rab, Sylvando, and…” It takes him a moment. Still having trouble with the last one’s name. “Hendrik?” He settled on, watching as her eyes go wide.

_ “Hendrik  _ is with you?” She asks, incredulous. “You’re sure?”

Erik tilts his head to the side. “I think? Was he not, before?”

“Not exactly.” She answers, clearing none of Erik’s confusion. “Alright, then. Where are they?”

The reunion is less than happy, but Erik still feels like an intruder as he watches from the sidelines.

He doesn’t understand why they have to explain Hendrik’s presence, or why it takes so long for Jade to relax with him around. 

“Might as well call me a vampire.” Jade only half-jokes from where she had taken her seat by El, only just freed from what looked like a spine-crushing hug from Sylvando. She may not seem to need human blood like the creature of myth, but between her newly greyed skin, sudden night owl tendencies, and sudden appreciation for rare meat, it was what felt most accurate. 

“A lot has changed, no doubt you know that.” Jade said, hands folded in her lap. “It’s like this everywhere I’ve been. People have lost their homes, their families…” She trailed off, and looked to Hendrik. “I’ve heard rumors about Heliodor falling. Is it true?”

Hendrik nodded stiffly. “I am afraid so. But the citizens, and your father are alive, sheltering in a fortress built on the ruins of Cobblestone.”

“And my father?” She catches El sneer, but makes no comment. 

“Alive and well.” 

Their conversation about the Last Bastion mostly flies over Erik’s head, though he tried to follow nonetheless. 

Soon enough, talk turns to the barricaded city behind them.

“It’s Vince.” Jade wastes no time explaining, with a single glance towards Erik. “I don’t know how or why, but he’s the one who has taken control of Octogonia. Somehow he’s managed to find a way to artificially transform people into monsters.”

“Artificially?” Hendrik asks with a huff, “There is nothing natural about the way people are transforming in the first place.”

“Of course not.” Jade snaps, patience worn thin. “But it’s different. The change is coming from within, from what I’ve been able to gather. It’s… little more than theory at this point, but it seems like the curse, or spell, or whatever it was that Mordegon did… It triggered a sort of… Dormant power. Something in our blood.”

“In our blood?” Sylvando repeated, “Honey, how could  _ this,”  _ They gestured at themself, bright peacock-like feathers and all to indicate the change so many people had been through, “Be in our blood?”

Jade only managed a shrug and shook her head. “I don’t know. That’s just the information I’ve been able to gather. But again, that’s not exactly why I’m here. Vince is using some kind of magic to change people  _ entirely  _ into monsters.” She nodded her head in the direction of the other camps. “There’s a reason they’ll take anyone.”

Jade didn’t let anyone waste time with questions. Explained how she’d woken up unharmed not far from the ruins of Dundrasil, and had been slowly making her way around the region, finding what little information she could as she searched for the rest of their party. “It wouldn’t make sense,” she said, “For me to have survived completely unharmed, while the rest of you died. I knew you were out there, somewhere.”

“I’m willing to bet that we’ll find the girls just fine, too.” Sylvando cut in, “We’ve got a guardian angel looking after us.” 

Erik didn’t know why that made a pit of anxiety form in his gut, but he was sure that Sylvando wouldn’t be taking any winnings there.

But the air was tense enough already.

Erik kept his thoughts to himself.

It wasn’t long before Jade found her way to Octogonia, and to the crowd outside of it. 

Just a handful of people, in the beginning. Families that followed as their half-changed, or fully mutated children, siblings, or spouses were cast out. “I don’t know what possessed him to turn on his own, but I’m not standing for it.” It took days, but eventually Jade found a weak point in the barrier. A place she could pass through, unnoticed, smuggling out people and provisions out, a beacon of hope to those camped outside their old home, with nowhere else to go in the world.

Vince was holding the citizens hostage, but for what, Jade didn’t know. “I tried to confront him at first. I know what he did to you, El, but I had hoped he was truly just desperate, or working under duress.” But her confrontation went sour. Vince wasn’t working alone. With too many people surrounding her, it would’ve been suicide to try and fight. “He wouldn’t talk, I only just managed to escape on my own. I don’t know how loyal they are, if at all, but if I go back in with all of you, we’d more than stand a chance. 

El took that moment to speak. “Well, Rab?” He asked, “Is there something we can do to help now?” 

Erik didn’t like the tone he was taking, like he was trying to pick a fight.

This couldn’t be him. This couldn’t be the dragon he fought so hard to find.

Couldn’t be the one he traded everything he’d ever known to return to. 

Rab’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded.

His acceptance met with obvious scorn. “But wait just a wee moment, El. We cannae go in without a plan.”

They argued over taking Erik with them. Whether he would be safer with them, or outside. Whether he would be a hindrance or a risk worth taking. 

In the end, they decided to bring him along.

Who knows how long the camps would be free of outside monster attacks.

Erik would come with them. 

As they near the weakened spot where he had first met Jade, Erik overhears Rab mutter something to her, speaking low just behind them, voices so low he only scarcely caught El’s name in the mix of words.

He sees El’s ear twitch, and knows he heard as well.

Erik wonders if El could make out everything that Rab had just said, or if he was just as lost as Erik was.

Either way, it couldn’t be a good feeling, to hear your name spoken behind your back.

Octogonia seemed as though it was designed with form over function, and with the worst kind of form, as well. 

What sense did it make to build a town made of stairs and corners and inclines?

But thankfully enough, Jade knew exactly where she was going, and it took little time to reach the elevator where they needed to go. 

Erik was under the impression that Octogonia was a town of martial artists, but instead of red rope tying off boxing rings, it was sectioning off VIP areas. 

“He completely reformed the town.” Jade had explained, “I suppose he hadn’t been much of a fighter. But still, I would’ve taken the MMA tournament any day over all this.”

Erik couldn’t even tell that the casino they found themselves in had ever been anything but. Gold and fake gems, slot machines and poker tables sat empty despite the late hour.

A city full of games, and a city with a cowering populace.

What good was having a casino at the center of town, if each time they ventured outside they risked being forever changed?

The plan had been simple. 

Sneak in, keep El and Erik as far to the sidelines as possible, take Vince back down if necessary, or find whoever or whatever it was keeping him in control, and get back out.

Simple.

But how simple could anything ever go?

They managed to pass entirely undetected through the city and the first level of the Casino, but it was once they reached the second where they realized exactly where everyone had been. 

The moment they passed the threshold, Magic the same color as the barrier held each one of them stone-still.

The MMA ring still existed exactly as it had been before, open to the night sky but tainted a deep red color from the barrier overhead.

And sat in the middle, watching the doorway, and a man guarding him on either side, was Vince.

Nose clearly crooked from a break that had never been set.

Citizens sitting in the stands, waiting for a match to watch. 

Vince recognized his challengers right away. El alone would be hard enough to forget, but each face had been burned into his memory.

One more than the others.

“So nice of you to visit your old partner.” Vince smiled, “So nice of you to come back, but I don’t need the money you could fetch me anymore.”

He looks El up and down, and moves across the group. 

The girl could prove to be trouble… But the rest of them hardly posed any threat. 

Not half as strong as they had been before, beaten down by their time on the road.

He could take them all on, easy. 

He could take El again… But Vince didn’t care about the dragon, anymore. 

The wealth and luxury he could have brought for Vince didn’t matter anymore. Not when he had all of Octogonia under his thumb.

No…

The healed break in his nose still hurt. He could feel the bruises that had darkened his skin for months.

His tongue ran over the empty space where he had two teeth knocked from his jaw.

Instead of the dragon, he wanted the blue one.

It was his fault, losing the dragon before. It was his fault that Vince had been chained and locked away, for what was supposed to have been for life.

He saw the state the man was in. Posture timid, no weapon at his side (though he hadn’t used one before, either.) He looked at Vince as if he hadn’t a clue who he was…

And his eyes were blood red.

How fitting. 

“You’re already halfway gone.” Vince said, closing in on the blue-haired one. “I wonder what kind of monster you’ll make.”

“Get away from him!” The dragon that had remained mostly silent until that point screamed, his voice taking on a feral edge.

Vince didn’t know what the dragon was capable of. 

Didn’t understand the danger he was putting himself in, by threatening a dragon’s bondmate. 

It only took a second. 

The moment Vince took Erik’s jaw into hand, El lost every last scrap of control.

The spell holding El back shattered into hundreds upon hundreds of sand-fine red shards, and though Vince saw what happened, he couldn’t understand.

The dragon had been restrained. He knew the spell should have been strong enough, and even failing that, both of Vince’s men had been ready to attack if need be, but… 

One already lay dead. Neck snapped under the weight of a foreleg, and the second not far behind.

The dragon’s eyes were locked onto his own, as it let the body drop from it’s maw. 

The two of them weren’t it’s goal.

It was after Vince. 

The orb-

Vince wasn’t powerless this time. 

Grasped in his hand, he had the orb. Granted, he’d used it for very little as of yet. 

But he knew what kind of power it held.

He could-

He ran out of time.

The dragon wasn’t looking for a fair fight. 

Teeth in Vince’s shoulder. Claws in his side.

He was on the ground, discarded next to the others.

“El!  _ El, please! Stop!”  _ Erik could hear people screaming, some calling to him to run, now that the bonds had all been shattered after Vince dropped the orb. 

He didn’t listen. 

Frozen in what wasn’t quite shock.

Even as El turned to face him, blood dripping from his pointed teeth.

Red eyes fixed onto Erik, without a speck of recognition. Without any humanity.

The dragon stepped forward.

It didn’t care to hurry, it knew that it’s prey wasn’t going anywhere, and it knew that nothing trapped in the city with it was a threat.

“Erik- we need to  _ move-“  _ Jade begged, spear held out to her side, but she didn’t run. She was waiting for him. 

She would be waiting a while.

Erik stood his ground, even as terror laced through him. 

Running wouldn’t do any good, anyway. Not against a creature five times his size, able to fly after him. Erik didn’t know what he was leaving behind, didn’t know what came before this, but he knew he’d rather die fighting than with a knife in his back.

“El-“ Erik raised his voice nearly to a break. If there was anything of El that could hear him, if there was any way to break through… He didn’t know how to find it. “Please...”

The dragon was close. Smoke rising in the air as it tilted it’s head. The animal in it was confused. Why wasn’t this human fighting? Why wasn’t it running? Not even playing dead, but a single hand reached out, inches from it’s snout. 

“Come on,” Erik needed his memories, needed  _ anything  _ to fall back onto. A word, an action, a spell,  _ anything  _ to stop his dragon. He was El’s keeper, wasn’t he? Shouldn’t there be  _ something- _

The dragon’s eyes locked onto his.

Blood red, the pupils nothing more than slits, like that of a venomous snake. 

Erik couldn’t read the dragon's thoughts.

Didn’t need that ability to sense the violent intent behind those eyes. 

The creature wasn’t fighting in defense. 

It wasn’t hunting out of necessity.

This was sport.

“Erik,  _ move!”  _ Jade ordered, no longer willing to let Erik play at whatever game he thought he was. 

She had no intentions of hurting El.

Rab would be back soon with a chain or a sword. Something iron.

All she had to do was hold him off long enough for him to arrive. 

But Jade realized the dragon had stopped.

It hadn’t calmed down, but it wasn’t attacking.

It had stopped just before Erik, inhuman eyes careful and calculating. 

Jade tries once more, slowly this time while keeping a careful eye on the dragon, to get Erik to flee.

Rab had warned her about this. 

But she still wasn’t prepared to see it.

There wasn’t anything left of her little brother in the creature. 

She knew he might not have the same view of her as a sibling, but he wouldn’t ever try to hurt her.

Now, she knew that there wouldn’t be anything to stop him from leaving her just as dead as the others.

Jade’s hand curled around Erik’s wrist. 

She would drag him away if she needed to, but El sees the moment she touches Erik, and any illusion of peace is ripped away.

Agility had always been one of Jade’s strong suits. 

That life-long practiced skill being the only thing keeping her alive. 

But even so, even as fast as she can move, El is still over five times her size.

Even if she did manage to dodge the swipe of talons, she doesn’t have the room to miss the swing of his tail. 

Just as she was pushing to her feet, the thickest part of the appendage slammed into her chest, knocking her back with a splintering crack. 

The breath stolen from her lungs, and the pain in her core preventing her from drawing in enough air, all Jade could do was watch. 

~~

Ink-dark blackness surrounded El on all sides. 

He couldn’t move.

He could hardly think.

He’d been here before. El could almost swear it, but as the memories just barely reached the surface, they floated out of view. 

Leaving him again in the dark. 

_ “El!” _ Erik’s scream echoed oddly, as if he was hearing him from deep underwater.  _ “Please, stop!” _

El didn’t know what it was he needed to stop. He could only scarcely make out the sounds in the world past whatever state it was he dwelled in.

He hadn’t meant to change.

He knew full well what would happen, but-

He couldn’t let Vince take out whatever revenge he had planned.

This was to protect Erik.

And yet…

_ “Erik, move!” _

Yet he felt as if he was only making everything worse.

Through the haze he floated in, El could taste iron on his tongue.

The sickening taste of blood sticking in his mouth, clogging his sense of smell. 

He tried to fight.

Tried to thrash and break free from the darkness, but he couldn’t fight against water. 

Not when there was no surface to be found.

_ “El… El, please…”  _ Erik was begging, voice soft and filled with tears. 

He could almost feel Erik’s hands on his face. So impossibly light.

Maybe he was just imagining it.

Maybe none of this was really happening. 

A fanciful idea. 

But better than the others. The ones that told him to give in to the monster.

_ It wouldn’t be your burden to bear…  _ The voice was anything but friendly, but it had been whispering in his ear for so long now…  _ No more responsibility… No more suffering… Just this peaceful dark… _

He knew better than to listen. El knew he had to keep fighting, knew that he had a job to do.

But he was so tired…

And the dark was so warm…

Erik screamed.

Pure terror. A spark lit on an emotion that did not belong to him.

Just a single spark. Not enough to even light a match.

But enough to be felt. 

It was all he needed to take back the reins. 

Awareness came suddenly, dropping El into the thick of the fight.

A fight he was winning, and a fight he never wanted to be a part of.

His neck and the side of his snout stung from where Erik had dug in his nails.

Fighting for purchase to take any of his weight from where El held him between his fangs.

He stared down three iron blades, Sylvando and Hendrik both ready to attack, and Rab standing right before him, poised at the ready to cast a spell.

The sharp smell of magic in the air told El that it wouldn’t be the first. 

“El…” Erik’s voice was weak. But it was enough to shock El into action. 

He could hardly bear to see the deep punctures in his shoulder as he gently set Erik back down.

But… The wounds were not deep. Even as he had fought without restraint against the others, Erik he had been gentle, or as gentle as the monster could be, with.

He’d gone into the fury with the express intent to save Erik, and somehow that had carried over to the beast’s mind.

But El didn’t know if anyone else knew that.

Or if it even mattered at all. 

Panic was a rising tide, growing only stronger as more and more of what he had done became clear.

  
  


El sat in the center of the stage, his human form taken up once more, Erik sitting at his side, wounds still oozing fresh blood.

He would have to wait.

His injuries were not life-threatening, and Jade-

Jade could hardly breathe with two broken ribs.

Bones that El had broken.

El couldn’t feel anything about that, yet.

He knew he would, but first… 

The corpses. 

Two men, dead. Broken and bled out.

No one had yet to come for their bodies, but on top of that...

Vince wasn’t dead yet. 

An alarming amount of blood pooled beneath him, but he wasn’t beyond help.

With a few spells, and careful care, he would likely be able to pull through.

But no spells were cast.

No one was in any hurry to help the man. 

He’s had a second chance when he was offered the orb. He could have taken care of his people, fixed the town. Fought back.

But instead, he squandered his chance and forfeited his own future. 

“It’s okay,” Jade, mostly healed but still wincing in pain, lays a hand on her brother’s shoulder, knowing that there isn’t anything she can say to fix what had happened, but just as Erik was, she tried anyway. “It’s not your fault. It’s the curse, nothing more.”

But the blood on his hands, staining his palms and around his lips was still there. Drying to a flaking rust. 

No matter if it was the curse, he still knew what human flesh tasted of. 

He still knew what Erik’s blood tasted like.

He had still hurt the girl who saw herself as his older sister.

He didn’t remember a second of how he had learned. Didn’t know what transpired between seeing Vince yank Erik forward, and seeing him lay dying on the ground.

There was a stutter, a tremor, and all too quietly, all too easily, Vince died.

For all he had done, the end was too simple.

Three people, all dead by his own work. 

Even Vince, as power-hungry and corrupt as he had been, was still a human being.

Who was to say these were the only three he had killed?

The taste of iron had been on his tongue ever since he had woken by Cobblestone falls. 

The scar on his side stung with the hazy memory of another monster’s teeth digging into him. 

It had been a lucky strike.

The monsters around there hadn’t a chance in hell of killing him, and by that extension, neither had any people. 

He couldn’t know if he had killed before.

But he knew that given the chance, he would kill again.

Erik was enough proof of that, tunic ripped where his teeth had met into his shoulder.

If El had been even a millisecond slower in regaining his senses, Erik would be dead.

Another body on the floor. 

He did not change this time, but he lost control all the same. 

“I-” Stuck between four people who cared about him more than nearly anyone else, El was a ticking time bomb. “I can’t… I can’t stay with you. Any of you.” His voice started off quiet, hardly above a whisper, but steadily growing in volume. “This keeps happening, I don’t know how many times I’ve hurt people. How many times-”

Within seconds, furious tears were falling, and El was all but screaming. “It’ll happen again! I can’t control it, I’ll change again and I-” He almost can’t say it. Any other time and he wouldn’t have been able to. But staring down Vince’s corpse, Erik on one side of him and Jade on the other, he knows that he has to. “I can’t fix this. I can’t stop Mordegon.” Who’s to even say that this was a result of Mordegon’s influences at all? Who could honestly tell him that he wasn’t just a monster, that this wasn’t just what happened to his people? 

El didn’t know what he was saying anymore. Couldn’t hear his own words. 

Both hands fisted into his hair, pulling out strand by strand in his hysteria.

Three people dead.

_ Three people dead. _

_ “Elwood!”  _ Rab yells, his voice echoing through what had once been the ring. 

El goes quiet, still shaking with fear, terrified tears still streaming down his face, but no longer hysterical over what he had done.

“It’s no matter what ye think’ll happen.” Rab speaks as if giving orders to a soldier. “It doesn’t matter whether we’re in danger with ye around, or if it’s possible ye’ll lose control again.”

El stares back wordlessly, and underneath the tension locking every muscle in his body, Erik feels as though his presence at his side is the only thing keeping El together. 

“If that monster is the curse, or just your nature, it doesn’t matter. What matters now is putting an end to Mordegon.”

“Rab, stop.” Jade reaches out, “That’s too harsh, of course that wasn’t-”

“No.” Rab doesn’t let her finish, doesn’t look away from El. “This is something the boy needs to hear.”

Erik tightens the grip he has on El’s shoulder, not able to offer anything more to help.

“We don’t matter.  _ You  _ do.” No less terrified of what is to come than his grandson. “You are the only one who can put an end to this.”


	15. Elwood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I want to ask you again. Do you think I’m scary, now that you’ve seen what I am? After what I’ve done to you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for non-graphic vomiting in the first part of this chapter.

It’s not the first time El has had to stop to be sick. 

Though at this point, it’s nothing but dry heaving, only saliva trailing from his lips. 

Erik stands just to the side.

Allowing El some semblance of privacy, but still close enough to offer some support.

He’s thankful for the break, to be honest. 

The marks along his torso still smarted.

They’ve finally been healed, but it still hurts when he moves too quickly.

And that has been what he’s been doing. El was so terrified, so shocked at what he had done… And as understandable as that was, Erik didn’t want to worry him any further.

So he pushed himself a little harder than he probably should have. 

It wasn’t his first scar, Erik knew that for a fact. 

And it still didn’t quite take the place for the worst scar he had. Erik didn’t know the origin of the swirling grey one on his chest.

But the simple puncture marks that ran in a line over his chest and back didn’t quite compare to it.

It was clear that he was no stranger to pain, now or in the past. That death and danger was just a part of his life.

Maybe that’s why it didn’t hurt as much as it should.

Maybe that’s why he found it so easy to forgive El.

Or maybe that was just him.

No matter, since El couldn’t seem to forgive himself for any of it. 

Doubled over against a boulder, El takes breaths as deep as he can manage, as slow as he can manage.

A futile hope to settle the nausea roiling in his stomach.

He can’t even tell what it is that’s causing it, anymore.

Whether it’s the constant replaying of Vince’s last breath, the taste of iron he can’t wash out, or the beginnings of iron sickness, spawned from the band coiled on his wrist he forged for himself from a bit of iron chain. 

It wasn’t clear if the band was doing anything more than causing pain, but… If it was any kind of possible that it could keep him sane, then it was worth a little illness. 

With shaking hands, El pushes himself away from the stone, and continues forward.

Just a little longer until he can give in. 

Just a little further.

He can feel Erik’s eyes on him as they walk silently through the smoldering mountain pass, and he can’t stop.

For anything.

Not until everyone is safe.

From him, and otherwise.

~~

They walk for close to a day before Hendrik declares that they’ve made enough progress for the day. 

Erik’s legs were burning from the strain, having tripped over too many loose stones and exposed roots than he had cared to count, and was more than happy to settle down for a break. 

El, however, seemed to stop only because he had to. 

There was a nervous energy about him, even though he looked terrible, skin flushed with illness and a horrible redness creeping up his arm from the iron bracelet. 

But still as he settled to the ground, it was with a relived sigh. 

Erik couldn’t tell if it was his imagination, but it almost looked like he was shaking. 

He didn’t offer to hunt down anything to cook, and it wasn’t of any wonder.

The only life they had seen along their trek had been that of monsters, hiding inside the thickets, red eyes the only thing giving away their presence.

Oddly enough, they never attacked. 

Their campsite was quiet. No one spoke much about anything, preferring their own thoughts over speaking of what was to come. 

One by one, they each headed to their own tents.

It was freezing, the temperature dropping off exponentially after dark, and only getting colder. 

It didn’t bother Erik much at first, but as a light snow began to fall, he began to shiver.

That shouldn’t be enough to freeze him. Somehow he knew, but somehow his body hadn’t gotten the notice.

El must be ice, if Erik was this chilled.

But the dragon didn’t take notice of the change in weather, sitting just as still as he first sat down by the last few dying flames of their campfire. 

Erik shouldn’t be nervous to speak up, but… “El?” He asked.

His tail twitched. He did nothing more to indicate that he was listening.

Erik swallowed hard against the anxiety rising in his chest.

This was  _ El.  _ No matter what-

The bite still stung. 

No matter what El did while he wasn’t in control. He wasn’t afraid of him. He wasn’t afraid of what he could do.

He just-

Erik pushed himself from the ground, and made the few short steps over to where El had curled in on himself to drop down next to him.

This is what it took last time.

Hopefully, it will work again. 

His dragon was ice-cold to the touch. It only made Erik feel even more like the snow that fell, but he didn’t care. 

He leaned his head against El’s shoulder, and part of him expected to be pushed away.

El was tense next to him, and for a minute, did nothing. 

Erik didn’t think he was being ignored.

El wasn’t cruel or spiteful. 

But perhaps… This was a bad idea. He didn’t remember El. He didn’t remember how he would comfort him when he needed to, or if he had ever needed to at all. 

Back and forth the idea went through his mind. Did he or did he not want it all back? To remember or start fresh.

Become what he used to be, no matter what that may have been, or start over as someone new?

But El needed comfort now, more than anything else. And Erik had to at least try. 

“I asked you once,” El said slowly, still tense. Still not moving, “If I was scary.”

“What did I say?” 

“You said, ‘about as scary as a gecko.’” El answered. “You said that anyone that knew me wouldn’t be afraid.” He stopped for a second, needing a moment to build up the courage to continue speaking.

Erik waited patiently.

“I want to ask you again. Do you think I’m scary, now that you’ve seen what I am? After what I’ve done to you?”

Erik didn’t answer right away. It wouldn’t mean anything if he answered ‘no’ on impulse, and didn’t actually consider the question. 

He wasn’t afraid of El. He knew that already. He wasn’t afraid of the way he looked. He wasn’t afraid that El would hurt him.

But…

He was afraid of what El became. Or, more accurately, he was afraid for El. 

They hadn’t been prepared for the last change, and the monster had been able to not only maim, but to kill.

Erik would be lying if he said he hadn’t been afraid for his life, when the dragon held him in his jaw. Whether it had been to protect him or not.

But more than that… Erik didn’t have much to lose. He didn’t know if there would be anyone to miss him, aside from El. If he had died there, then morbid as it sounded, it wouldn’t have been his problem to deal with.

But it would have been El’s. Killing Vince was an accident. It wasn’t something that he had intended, but Octogonia was better off without him and those that had supported him. 

But if El had managed to kill Erik… 

If the guilt alone didn’t kill him in turn… Even now, he was hurting himself with that band, in an effort to keep them all safe.

“I think I was right.” Erik answered, “I’m not afraid of you.”

“Even-”

“I’m not afraid.” Erik said, firmly this time. He didn’t understand much about the curse that had taken them both, but he didn’t need to. “I don’t think you’d ever hurt me on purpose.” 

El relaxed, just enough for Erik to notice. 

The white snow began to coat the ground. 

Erik shivered.

“You should go warm up.” El told him.

“No,” Erik answered, “I want to stay with you.”

“Here, then.” El raised the arm Erik had been leaning onto, and pulled him close against his side, his wing wrapping around. “Is that any better?”

El’s skin was colder than a regular person’s on a good day. But out in the snow, he wasn’t much warmer than the air Erik was being shielded from. Though, being this close to El… It just felt right. “Yeah,” he lied, just for a few moments more, “It is.”

For a moment, Erik hesitates. 

He knows what he wants. 

Whatever he had with El before, he needs to have it back now.

Just being close to the other man lights a warm feeling inside of him, and if something as simple as proximity can do that much…

He won’t force El if he doesn’t want it.

But he isn’t going to give up without trying.

It isn’t hard to get El’s attention. 

Just a single hand sliding along the side of his jaw, gently turning his head to face Erik.

There’s a question clear in the space between them.

“Erik,” El starts, sounding almost exasperated. “You don’t have to force-”

“I’m not forcing myself to do shit.” Erik rolls his eyes, “I  _ want  _ to have what we used to. I- I’m doing what feels right.  _ This  _ feels right. So… Please? Let me try?”

El gave a short nod, and his arm around Erik's shoulder loosened, giving him the space he needed to move. 

One more chance.

Erik knew it wouldn’t restore what he had lost. It wouldn’t be the magic cure-all for everything that had changed.

But at the very least…

He needed it to be  _ something. _

Seated in his dragon’s lap, leaning forward a little oddly to give El the space he needed as to not crush his tail, again, he tried to kiss El.

He doesn’t love El, as his hands hold tight around his sides.

He doesn’t even know if he’s a friend.

But then again, friends don’t typically do this, do they? 

He doesn’t know, as he lets his hands thread through El’s hair. As one instead comes to wrap around his horn. 

It was warm, now. In El’s arms, held carefully like the most precious treasure. 

He doesn’t love El.

But he doesn’t hate him. He doesn’t just like him, either.

He doesn’t feel anything.

So much, people relied on what they knew… And for every last thing to be blank...

Erik doesn’t know what to call this, how to describe the thoughts and feelings that he had, 

It’s so hard for Erik to not know a single thing about himself. 

He doesn’t know when he had started crying. 

Or when the tears had become noticeable.

El pulls back with an apology, but Erik doesn’t give him the time to voice it. “It’s not your fault.” lips still close enough to touch. “It’s not your fault. Please, don’t stop-”

Erik wasn’t the only one reduced to tears.

El fared no better, but didn’t entirely ignore Erik’s pleas to continue.

“I’m sorry.” El said, settling Erik in his lap, cocooned by his wings and with a hand running through his hair. “This is all my fault. I’m so sorry.”

“I-it’s not.” Erik says, holding tight to the fabric of El’s shirt. “You didn’t take away my memories.”

“No.” El admits, “But it’s my fault you had to give them up at all.”

~~~

“Just through that well, there.” Rab said, and one by one, they all slid down the old, fraying rope.

It shouldn’t have been enough to hold any one of their weights, but it did so without even an extra thread breaking free. “This was meant to be an escape passage for the royal family. Just in case there was ever an attack.” 

It should have worked.

The tunnel was wide, and they had a clear view of what was ahead. Easy to defend, if need be.

If only the monsters had come on any other day. If there had been even the slightest shred of a warning, they would have survived.

But wishes and what-ifs couldn’t change what had already happened.

They cross over a bridge, high above a wildly running underground river. Even in the cavern, it glows a vivid blue, just like the beaches of Puerto Valor.

Bioluminescent moss. The same blue glow that El remembers from high above them.

A blue glow that has all surely been burnt away.

From Her waterfalls that no longer fell, the spores for the miss travelled in the water from Yggdrasil herself.

“Dundrasil was different from the other Kingdoms.” Rab’s voice echoes loudly through the caverns, but there is no monster he could alert. No hermit to hear, not even any bats to wake. “Each kingdom of the world serves some purpose, from Sniflheim to Gallopolis, but Dundrasil had more responsibilities than they did. We were Yggdrasil’s favored. We carry the blood of Her first chosen leader, Elwood. We sit the closest to Her roots, and the river that runs in this cavern and around the city is blessed. We took the most from Her spoils, and it was our duty to share them.” 

It sounded like myth, but El didn’t know enough to contradict his grandfather.

Not as though it mattered.

Dundrasil no longer enjoyed Yggdrasil’s blessing. It no longer spread Her goodwill across the land.

El hadn’t even been a week old when Dundrasil’s reign came to a screeching halt. 

Quietly, Jade speaks up. “I’m sorry, but… Maybe you can tell us this all another time, if you don’t mind? I… Remember that night all too well.”

It’s not a lie, but she was looking to El as she spoke.

It was more for his benefit that she had asked Rab to cease.

They finish their hike in silence, and again meet the raining sky after climbing out of yet another well.

El had been here before, but then… It had almost looked natural to see Dundrasil in such a state. Now, getting to see sprawling before him, what would once have been his home now nothing but ruins and plumes of the toxic smoke that burn his lungs… 

It felt wrong.

The gravestone catches El’s eye as they pass, but Rab takes no notice, coming to stop before a crumbled doorway.

“Crivens.” Rab sighs deeply as he looks around. Rain begins to fall lightly over them, but it is not a blessing. 

The pain will put out no fires, and the ash it spreads over the land will not nourish any crops. The smell it brings from the earth is not of grass and peat and stone, but of death. 

Fitting, for where they are. “This place was in ruins the last time we came, but this… This fair breaks my heart.”

El is prepared to wait for the old man to gather himself, but he snaps himself out of it in seconds. “Yes, right. It should be around here somewhere.” It occurs to El that as needlessly cruel he had seemed to be in the past few days, he had been no better.

They both had their reasons, as different as they were. But even that… Down at the root, they were the same. It was the shame of failure that turned grandson and grandfather to fighting.

The whole world was headed for Dundrasil’s state.

“Would you youngins’ do an auld man a favor and shift this little lot?” Rab asked, eyes turned down to the moss-covered pathing. 

He wasn’t too weak to help shift a few stones, but El didn’t call attention to that fact as he followed Sylvando and Hendrik to help.

To Rab, and to Jade who stayed at the old man’s side, this wasn’t shifting rubble.

It was desecrating a mass grave. 

El didn’t speak as stone after stone was moved, as a pillar that would have weighed nothing to his dragon form was struggled with.

As he could no longer tell whether the wetness on his face came from the now-heavy rainfall, or the quiet tears on his face.

This wasn’t his home.

It wasn’t his kingdom.

But… It was his grandfather’s. 

It should be left to rest, left to peace.

But they were all forced to disturb it time and time again. 

After the rubble was moved, a darkened stairwell was revealed to them.

Another passage, but this time so dark even El could not see what lay at the bottom. 

“Where does this lead, Lord Robert?” Hendrik asked, peering carefully down, as if squinting could part the darkness. 

“The first half of the escape passage.” Rab answered, “Before the well, we had this to keep us safe.” His hands balled tightly into fists.

All these precautions, all this careful planning, and still his children were lost. 

“Rab-” El tried to speak, to ask exactly what they were doing here.

The restless knight held some significance beyond an odd dream, and truly in the state the world was in, with everything they had seen, what was it about this that required all their efforts?

But Rab didn’t give him time to ask, leading the way through the passage, simple memory telling him exactly where to step through the darkened tunnel.

Their footsteps echoed as loudly as cannon fire down the twisting stairwell. 

Disused and undisturbed for over two decades now, none but spiders to hear, and yet every last sound set their teeth on edge, waiting patiently for the worst to happen.

At the bottom of the stairwell, a narrow door frame greeted them.

Nothing sinister about it in appearance, but all the same there would be no going back once the threshold was crossed.

That same growing moss began to light their way, around the twisting path of the waterway, until the knight came into sight. 

Kneeling in the center of the room, it was as still as a corpse. 

Sconces lit up along each wall, a sudden blue fire that burned away without a source, lighting their path to the figure. 

_ “Such pain… Such… Despair…” _

The same voice from the dream, the same words. Over and over again without end, even though from the scratching of the voice, even speaking brought the knight agony. 

“How dare you!” The knight looked up, voice turning inhuman with rage. “How dare you return here? Begone, servants of evil!”

Voice so distorted, El could hardly understand the words. “You took  _ everything!  _ You destroyed  _ everything! I will never forgive you!” _

The knight stood suddenly, drawing a falcon blade from its sheath. 

“Get back!” El yelled to Erik, “Now!”

Thankfully, he didn’t need to tell him twice. 

This fight feels all so simple after Octogonia. No traps, no history to it, even if their opponent seems to be nothing less than a ghost…

Well, El had dealt with stranger.

Funny, to think that fighting a ghost felt normal now.

The Restless knight sends dark magic attacks, and lets out wails that grays like nails on chalkboard, setting El’s fangs on edge and stunting his attacks.

He can feel the fury build, and refuses to call forth fire. The iron burns hotter when smoke forms in the air.

He doesn’t know what would happen if he let fire engulf that around him. 

It takes effort, but they manage to scrape through unscathed. 

_ “Such… pain…” _ The knight falls back to his knees, continuing to mutter nonsense despite his defeat. As if instead of being vanquished at all, he simply gave up. “You took my Eleanor… You took my Elwood!  _ I will never forgive you!”  _

El felt a cold chill run down his spine as the knight uttered his name, and while Sylvando exclaimed his own shock, both Rab and Hendrik remained unmoved.

As if they both had known all along.

“Irwin…” Rab uttered the name, slowly moving forward. “Just as I had thought… A great man, and a fine warrior… And most importantly, your father, Elwood. I’m sorry you had to meet like this.”

Erik had returned to the room the moment the knight had fallen, but was now moving close to El, holding his arm in his hands.

He didn’t know the story.

He didn’t know how little Elwood knew of his birth family, how conflicted he was.

But he didn’t care. Didn’t need to in order to know that his dragon needed him then.

No matter what came before. 

“What happened to ye, Irwin?” Rab asked the spector, begging it to respond as if it was still a tangible person. “Come on, laddie — look at me.”

Slowly, with a trembling hand, the knight raised the visor covering his face-

But there was no face to be seen. 

A swirling purple void was all that the helmet had been protecting.

_ At last you have come. _

A gentle voice echoed from the air, without a source to trace it to.

_ Long have I waited for a kindly soul to free my restless knight from his misery. _

“That voice…” Hendrik stared up at the ceiling, eyes scanning for a familiar visage.

_ You are correct… Before you kneels Irwin, King is Dundrasil… All those long years ago, on that darkest of day, he fought to the last… _

_ The light of justice sustained him, and he refused to yield… _

_ But after all that time… He has fallen… All that remains of him is the tortured soul you see before you… Lost between the realms of life and death…  _

_ I beg of you… Please, help him… _

The voice faded back to silence, and did not speak again. 

Without a moment wasted, Rab beckoned El closer. 

The knight was muttering, repeating over and over the names of those the darkness had stolen from him. 

But the void…

It was so familiar…

The same murky darkness he fell to whenever his control waned.

But his father’s was not empty and his own was.

Instead, he could see a glimpse of a creature that lived inside.

He stared into it, and the creature inside saw.

In a heartbeat, Elwood was no longer in the catacombs of the castle, but standing in the door, witness to a celebration.

One after another, people were coming to congratulate Irwin, though their words were lost to El, who had only eyes for the man he had never gotten a chance to know. 

“Thank you, thank you!” Irwin bowed his head to his subjects, and pressed a hand over his heart. “Aye, this is a momentous day for our kingdom indeed. I am truly humbled to be lucky enough to celebrate it with you all.” To his fellow rulers and to his subjects alike, he spoke with respect, and without a shred of falsehood. “My dear sultan, King Gustaf! Allow me to welcome you both to Dundrasil. You honor us with your presence.”

The three spoke of a Colloquy. But El only listened with half an ear, focused more on the people that stood around.

He hadn’t ever wanted to meet his birth parents. Hadn’t ever wondered…

But now, he looked around for anyone he could place as the Queen.

Now, he found that he needed to know. He needed to see —

“But the reason itself is a momentous one, of course.” King Gustaf finally caught El’s attention. “The birth of an heir to the title of Luminary is an event of unparalleled significance.”

“Indeed it is. Thank you again for agreeing to meet me so readily, now, I have a few final preparations to make before we convene. If you would excuse me, I’ll send someone to fetch you both when we are ready to begin… Except…” Irwin turned to where El stood, and for a moment he panicked. 

Before he realized that his father was looking straight through him, not at him.

“Guards, could any of you find King Carnelian?”

“Yes, sire!” The guard answered immediately, standing at attention. “He is walking the grounds with Lord Robert. If you could just follow me...”

Irwin nodded, a pleased smile on his face as he thanked the guard, and walked from the room.

In a trance, El followed. 

Just around the corner, they stopped at a grand fountain, surrounded on all sides by flourishing plant life. 

“King Carnelian, Lord Robert.” Irwin greeted the two, and El took a moment to smirk at the sight of his grandfather dressed so regally.

It hardly seemed to suit him. “I will be convening the Colloquy shortly, if you’d like to make ready.”

Carnelian spoke, and the smile fell from El’s face. “Lord Robert informs me that the child bears the mark… That he is the Lumianry reborn.” He spoke so skeptically, so much higher than Irwin, as if he wasn’t of the same standing as himself. 

“That’s right, aye.” Irwin answered, as if he didn’t care at all. For a second, El remembered that his father was a knight before he was King. Perhaps that was why. Taking orders and kneeling before royalty was what he knew to be right.

Perhaps it was that which kept him humble, which allowed him the compassion Rab spoke of. That El had now seen. “I’ve decided to present him to you all at the Colloquy. The sight of so many people gathered to celebrate his birth has brought home to me how important he is. How much hope the light be brings represents—”

Carnelian held up a hand, looking annoyed. “Save it for the meeting, Irwin.” He turned away, leaving Irwin disconcerted.

“Don’t take it to heart, son.” Rab said as the two of them watched the King take his leave. “The date of all Erdres hangs in the balance, on the Luminary. Not everyone’s going to be happy about that.”

“It doesn’t hang on his shoulders yet.” Irwin said. “Elwood is an  _ infant.  _ It will be years before he is called to fulfill his destiny.”

Rab doesn’t address Irwin’s claim, and instead only sighs his answer. “Right, it’s nearly time. Why don’t you go and fetch the wee one from Eleanor’s chambers?”

Irwin nods and begins to leave, but Rab stops him with one last remark.

“And please, be prepared for what they may think.”

The scene around them shifts, and El finds himself staring no longer at his father's retreating back, but at himself. 

Cradled in his mother's arms, a short tail trailing down to her lap, and two very small rounded off horns from his scalp. 

“Aww!” The high voice grabs his attention, and instead El finds himself captivated again. 

But this time, by Jade.

So small, but still with hair far too long to comfortably care for. “He’s so tiny! Can I hold him, Lady Eleanor? I promise I’ll be careful!”

“I think you’re a bit small to hold him,” Eleanor responds, but still turns to let her get a better look. “But hold out your hand, just right there.” 

It’s nothing but reflex for an infant, it doesn’t mean anything.

But still, El’s heart lurches as the baby holds to Jade’s outstretched finger.

Eleanor laughs at Jade’s awe-struck expression. “I think he likes you, Jade!”

El feels sick as he watches his mother, the mother he tried to reject, hold him so carefully.

She hadn’t any wings or scales, but she saw his own and didn’t so much as bat an eye. 

Small as they were, folded tight and wrinkled like that of a butterfly, just emerged from its cocoon. 

“He’s a very special boy, you know.” Eleanor was smiling, “They call him the Luminary. People all over the world have all sorts of hope for him. But… I hope he just grows up to be as good a King as his father, helping all those that need him.”

“I hope he grows up nice and kind like you, Lady Eleanor.” Jade cut in, too young to understand exactly what being born a Luminary entailed.

Eleanor smiled at the girl she had grown to love almost like her own daughter. An older sibling to guide her son along his chosen path. “Well, in that case-”

A flash of lightning struck, turning the gentle evening dark with growing storm clouds.

Jade shrieked at the sudden noise, ducking down close to Eleanor’s skirts. 

But Eleanor hardly reacted. Staring out the window, forlorn and accepting.

As if she knew something terrible was coming.

Jade looked to El. “King Irwin!”

No, not to El.

But just to his side.

El watched silently as his father stopped to smile at Jade, pat her on the head and ask what she thought about Elwood, if she would be his friend in the time to come.

“The Colloquy’s about to start. Would you mind handing me the wee one?”

Thunder rolled in the distance, and Eleanor again turned to the many windows lining the grand room. “Ach, would you look at it, thundering away out there… Makes me feel uneasy.”

“Come now, Eleanor.” Irwin placed his free arm around her shoulders. “It’s just a storm. There isn’t anything to worry about, we’ll keep you safe, no matter what.”

She smiled back at him, but somehow didn’t look convinced. 

“And what about me?” Jade said, jumping up and down to catch the Kong’s attention.

“Hey, you don’t need me to protect you, Jade.” Irwin said, bending down on one knee to speak to her. “You’ve got King Carnelian. Your father is a force to be reckoned with, make no mistake.” He stood back up, “Right, then. No more time to waste, I need to go. I’ll see you later, Eleanor.”

King Irwin walked right past El, and through the door.

“Good luck.” Eleanor said, just above a whisper. “Both of you. Take care.”

The two still left in the room turned back to the windows to watch the storm blow back in.

Just for a moment… El couldn’t resist the impulse to reach out to his mother.

Though his hand didn’t even get close enough to phase through her, she turned, startled. 

But when she saw there was no one there, her eyes fell back to the floor.

“I’m sorry, Jade.” She said. “For a moment there— for a moment I could swear Elwood was back.”

“I-” El began, but stopped before he knew what he was going to say.

He wasn’t really here.

She didn’t really sense him, and he wouldn’t have been heard. 

He was going mad, standing here.

El turned from the room, and followed his father across the castle, just at his shoulder, wishing he could stop whatever it was that was about to happen.

“This child…” Carnelian wasted not so much as a second after the door closed behind Irwin, eyes settling on the baby. “He is the one- hm?” Carnelian pushed from his chair to confront Irwin. “By Yggdrasil! I knew he wasn’t quite ordinary, but I hadn’t expected… _ This.” _

At a loss for words, he just stared, dumbfounded at the inhuman child. “He is of-“

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence, Carnelian.” Irwin warned. “He bears the mark, he is the Luminary. No matter what other features he may possess.”

“No matter the child’s appearance.” Rab cut in, “We have more pressing matters to deal with right now.”

Irwin set his son down in a basket to sleep, and joined his fellow Kings at the table, keeping one careful eye on Carnelian. 

“‘Dark one riseth, Tree descendeth. Luminary, man defendeth.’” Rab recited, knowing the prophecy by heart. “‘Light’s mark shineth, hand extendeth, with his coming, black night endeth.”

“The final poem in the Book of Erdwin…”Carnelian said.

“The legends tell us that the Dark One was defeated by the Luminary in the Age of Heroes, bringing eternal peace to the world.” Rab continued, “But as I’m sure you haven’t failed to notice, monsters roam the land in droves once more. Our peaceful lands are under threat.”

“Zwaardsrust has already fallen to their wicked hands…. And King Arnout with it. He will be sorely missed.”

Without more than a heartbeat to mourn the fallen Kingdom, their meeting continues without a hitch. “Now a child has been born who bears Her Mark. Which brings the reason for our gathering today. What does this all mean for Erdrea?” Rab asks the room. 

El knows that this is all in the past. Knows that whatever happens is out of his control to change. That in the long run, no matter what these men decide to do, he will live.

But the tension in the air sends his instincts screaming at him to run. 

With an awkward cough, the Sultan speaks up. “You speak of the Dark One, of the monsters running wild, our centuries of peace crumbling. But surely the birth of this… This  _ child  _ signals an end to our woes? Now that the Luminary is among us, balance will be restored, peace will remain, and he will put a stop to whatever it is that threatens our reigns. All is well, is it not?”

King Gustaf didn’t so much as try to hide the contempt in his voice as he laughed aloud at the Sultan’s perceived ignorance. “You truly believe that the presence of the Luminary will ensure that peace prevails? A Luminary such as this, are you certain?” As the Sultan had no reply, he turned to Rab. “Forgive my interruption, Lord Robert, but the book of Erdwin contains another poem concerning this matter, does it not?”

“Now, hold on-” Irwin tries to speak up, but isn’t given the time before Carnelian interrupts.

“There is. The very first poem, in fact. The prophecy goes:  _ World Tree’s gift, first of many. Bold, bright, blessed Luminary. Thy light doth a shadow cast. Lo, the Dark One — Bleak, Black, vast.”  _

“What are you implying?” Irwin demanded, moving ever so slightly closer to his child. “That the Luminary causes the appearance of the Dark One?”

“We are not implying that at all.” Gustaf said, but it was hardly placating. “Without light, there cannot be shadow. Without darkness, the stars cannot shine. This is how it is, and how it will always be. Our question is not whether or not the Luminary brings the Dark One with his birth-”

Irwin slammed his hands down on the table, causing the candle light to flicker and the glasses on its surface to to shake. “You dare to imply that my son is the source of our troubles? That the Luminary isn’t a force for good?”

“How are we certain that he even is the Luminary?” Gustaf asks, gesturing to the sleeping child cradled in the basket. 

El’s heart fell.

He knows that people fear him, but to know that even as an infant…

“He has the Mark, yes, but that is not the only mark that he has. Irwin, your son bears the features of a demon. Horns, wings, a tail. How certain are you that this child is not the Dark One, instead?”

Irwin was rendered speechless.

“Surely you have noticed the sinister glow emitted by Erdwin’s Lantern as of late. Ever since your child was born, in fact…”

Irwin stood with a shout, “What are you trying to-”

The child on the table began to weep. 

“King Gustaf is right.” Carnelian said, watching Irwin hold his infant son close. 

“Oh, don’t you start as well!”

“Ominous footsteps approach. We all heard them. As the leaders of this world, Yggdrasil’s chosen bloodlines, we owe it to our people to root out even the slightest hint of evil at the source.” Carnelian narrowed his eyes at Irwin, settling all too closely on the child. “Even when that source is painfully close to home.”

“Why don’t you just come out and say it!” Irwin demanded, as Elwood continued to cry out in fear. Too small to understand the words being shouted, but still able to sense the danger he was in. “You’re asking me to kill my own son! For the off-chance he isn’t the Luminary!”

El looked to Rab, silently begging the old man to speak up for him. For Irwin. 

But he only looked away. 

A lightning strike silenced the room.

Slowly, Irwin again began to speak. “Something happened. Not long before Elwood was born. I’m sure some of you had to have seen it. A great, blinding light shot from Yggdrasil and set the sky aglow, turning that black of night to blinding day. The same evening he was born, I saw this light again, shining from the mark on his hand. The same golden color of- of his scales.” He stared down his fellow rulers, daring them to try to interrupt. “Elwood is a force for  _ good!  _ I have never been more certain of anything. He is a  _ gift  _ from Yggdrasil, sent to us in Her own image to rid us of the Dark One! The light of the Luminary is a gift.” El watches as his father turns El away from those who mean him harm. “A gift that will cleanse the word of evil. No matter what form he takes.”

Carnelian clapped, and looked to Irwin with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “A rousing performance indeed. If you had shown even a whit less conviction, we would have had no choice but to remove the child from your care. The luminary is the child of Yggdrasil. He alone can bring light to the world. He must be protected at all costs, and I’m sure the mystery behind the child’s appearance will be revealed sooner or later.”

King Gustaf again was laughing, but it hardly seemed sincere. “I hope you will forgive us our little test, but we had to see how strongly you believed.” A test of Irwin’s conviction or not… They hardly seemed to share in the same faith.

“I am satisfied. Send him to Heliodor when he comes of age. He will be trained in all that he will need to fulfill his destiny.” He said it as if he was offering a special gift, and not asking Irwin to remove his son from Heliodor’s own customs for their princes. “We must confer upon the Luminary the power to lead us all.”

“I… Don’t know what to say.” Irwin stood down, beginning to calm down. 

“The matter is settled,” Carnelian addressed them all, “Our Kingdoms are united in their purpose.” He looked again at the child. “Elwood, you said… That means ‘from the elder forest’, does it not?” At Irwin’s confirmation he smiled. “You truly believe his appearance is a gift from Yggdrasil.”

“I do.” Irwin said, holding the baby close to his heart. With a sigh, he picked himself up, ready to move on. “Come, all left to do now is introduce my people to their new prince.” He turned back to the table, “My friends, I would like to thank you all-”

The door behind them burst open. “Your Majesty!” He croaked, a hand pressed against a growing red stain on his uniform. Falling to his knees, Irwin was at his side in a heartbeat, unabashed to be a King kneeling to the side of a servant.

“Good lord!” Carnelian exclaimed from the side, watching the blood begin to drip down to the carpets below. 

“Y-your majesty! You must all flee the palace immediately! Monsters, hundreds of… monsters…” 

Panic broke loose in an instant, and El could only follow as the royalty was evacuated. 

“So soon after Zwaardsrust…” King Gustaf mourned, “How many times must our children die?” 

His father ran, Elwood held close as both Rab and Carnelian prepared to lay down their lives to keep father and son alive.

Corridor and corridor, turn after turn, El followed as closely behind his blood family as he could.

He didn’t know why.

Didn’t know what this vision was meant to achieve, but he couldn’t stay away.

He needed to know.

He needed to see what had become of them all. 

He watches helplessly as his father fights monster upon monster to protect Eleanor, Jade, and himself. 

They make a break for the escape tunnels. Where El knows the restless knight would decades later be found. 

He follows as they race out through the passage he had only just entered through. 

When they reach the clearing that he had met him in. 

For now, it remains empty.

“Time to make a break for it.” Irwin pants, exhausted from the strain, after spending too many days leading a cushy life. 

There’s a horrible rumble, and El turns to see a large monster trying to squeeze through the doorway.

“I’ll deal with it!” Irwin shouts, “Get out of here, now!”

“But-” Eleanor begins to protest, but with her son in her arms, and Princess Jade at her side, she thinks better of it.

“Run, and don’t look back.” Irwin’s voice cracks as he slams the door, cutting him off from his family.

He knew there was a chance he would perish.

But there were worse things to die for.

Elwood has no sword with which to fight. No voice with which to cast spells.

No way to assist his father in his fight, capable of only watching.

And yet his father prevails.

For a moment, El is confused.

If his father survived the tunnels, then how-

“Jade!  _ Jade!”  _ Carnelian’s voice echoes down the tunnels. “Are you down here? Jade!” Suddenly, it makes sense. 

El is powerless to stop his father from calling to Carnelian, revealing his position, and dooming himself. 

He follows as his father runs to Carnelian’s aid, and the scar on his chest begins to ache at the sight he is greeted with.

“Carnelian?” Irwin stumbles back in shock, unable to understand what it is he’s seeing. 

**“** Irwin? Is that you…?” Carnelian is trembling, exhausted and confused. If only El could believe even a moment of the act. “What happened? Is everyone safe?”

“Oh, thank the goddess.” Irwin said, bending down to the ground. “Yes, everyone is safe. They escaped just-”

El looked away.

He knew what was coming.

He didn’t need to see.

“The bloodline of the Luminary ends here. Today.”

What was the point of this? Why was he here, just to see his family, the kingdom he was born to, fall to ruin?

“King Carnelian! King Irwin!”

So much younger, Hendrik comes to a skidding halt before the body. “Wh-what has happened here?”

“I had no choice.” Carnelian-  _ Mordegon  _ lied, “He came at me in a frenzy. Queen Eleanor has absconded with the Luminary. And with my daughter.”

“Surly not!” Hendrik nearly stumbled back. 

“All the pressure they have been under… Perhaps the coming of the Luminary does bring darkness in its wake…”

“Sire, that cannot be true. The Luminary-”

“You are too close to the subject at hand, Hendrik.” Carnelian warned, “But… perhaps you are correct. The child is no Luminary.”

“Sire?” 

“You hadn’t a chance to see the creature. The infant has horns. It has scales and wings like a bat. What blessed hero would possess such an appearance?” Carnelian rose from the ground, far too smoothly for someone who claims to have just been attacked, but Hendrik was far too shocked to take notice. “Yes… That boy is no Luminary, but a child of evil! The Darkspawn!”

Without a single last look at the King of Dundrasil, they both left in a hurry, to find and put an end to the harbinger of calamity. 

With the very last of his strength, Irwin reached for his sword, but did not quite reach the hilt.

The vision fades, swirling around to an oh-so familiar black void.

In the air like a broken record, play’s Irwin’s last words on repeat.

_ Someone, help. Please. _

_ Someone… Anyone… _

The slightest glow begins to permeate the scene around him, and El sees again the maw that dragged him back in time to see his father’s demise.

Six legs like an insect, but with no exoskeleton. Instead the creature more closely resembled a lion, if that lion hadn’t eaten in months.

Deformed and emancipated, it turned away from Irwin’s prone form, it’s rancid breath leaving it in anemic huffing. “I… am the Gloomnivore… I devour despair… This one’s misery… was so  _ exquisite…  _ Kingdom in ruin, family gone, betrayed, dying alone and unknown…” It’s eyes flashed, alive with malevolence. “But… How does yours compare, I wonder?”

A swirling wind hit him like an ocean tempest, drawing out all that El had buried so deeply down. 

The pain of being impaled… 

The losing fight against unconsciousness as Erik fought as hard as he possibly could to stop the bleeding… 

_ “Mmm…  _ yes… Powers stolen, the world lost… Those closest to you lost… And you are meant to be the Luminary? Don’t make me laugh!”

“Wallow in it! Give in to your despair!” 

Though the worst of his experiences played in his mind’s eye, El found that instead of misery, all he could feel was fury.

It had been a mistake, to allow him to see what had become of his blood family. To remind him of his failures so soon after. 

_ Can you hear me…? Please, you must listen… _

The same voice from the underground passage echoed in the void around him, and El could now put a name to it’s sound. 

Telling him all is not lost, begging him to put an end to not only his father’s suffering, but his own.

_ You are the Luminary… That will never change… _

And even on top of his mother’s voice whispering in his ear, coming from far outside the void he was trapped within, ignited the light from the mark on his hand.

“ _ El!”  _ Erik was calling for him, as well. He was getting too close to the ghost of Irwin. Seeing what had become of El, but fearing not for his own safety in the effort to shake El back to his senses.

_ The fool.  _ El thought, but it was with a smile.

The light burst forth from not only the mark on his hand, but he could feel it emanating from every last part of his being.

The last few dying embers roared back to life as a blazing fire, stronger than El had ever known it to be.

For this moment in time, the curse could not touch him, and the brace around his arm did nothing to stop the transformation he willingly called forth. 

“Th-this light… it-  _ burns!”  _ The Gloomnivore called out in pain, a cornered animal, terrified of death. 

In a last ditch effort to escape with its life, the creature willingly left the void it called home for the living world.

“What’s happening?” El heard Sylvando call, and not only one monster, but two filled the narrow space. 

El turned to look at his companions, and with the desperate hope he would be heard, called out.  _ It’s alright! I’m in control. _

He couldn’t tell if Erik had truly heard him, or if he just knew, but he sagged in relief.

Hendrik relayed his message, and El didn’t give the Gloomnivore the time it needed to regroup. 

No one else moved forward to attack.

This was  _ El’s  _ fight. 

Dominion over fire and lightning, one he had known all his life, and one that came with being the Luminary, and both elements that came as natural as breathing. 

The Gloomnivore hardly stood a chance.

Unbridled fury. Fire and anger, slash after spell, plumes of fire and strangling smoke clouds came at his beck and call. 

The fight lasted for a few minutes, the Gloomnivore unused to combat, taking its prey down with psychological warfare.

But with his mind free from the curse, clear and sharp for the first time since he’d woken, El had no weakness to the lies the creature spewed.

And he had no reason to hold back.

Unleashing strike after strike onto the creature, he was unloading every last scrap of pent-up grief and fury he had to spare.

It wasn’t long until the creature was defeated, and El changed back to his human form, just to prove that he could.

The iron band lay broken on the floor.

Erik rushed to his side, holding an arm tight in his grip and pulling El back to their companions.

As the Gloomnivore vanishes, with it goes the dark aura that had enveloped Irwin. 

The purple cloak of darkness gone, his soul began to glow with a soft light.

Dazed, it takes the man a moment to realize who is standing before him.

“Lord… Robert?” He seems confused by the old man’s appearance. “But, where-” He cuts off as he catches sight of El. Eyes go wide, and brim with tears as the memories of his final night return. “But- you-  _ Elwood…”  _

El remains stone-still as Irwin approaches, even as Erik, still attached at his arm, tries to shrink back.

“Son… But…” One hand extends, stoping only just in time before he touches the base of El’s missing horn.

El hadn’t ever known how much he had wanted to meet this man. 

“It was you who saved me, wasn’t it?” Irwin asked, hands instead coming to grasp as his shoulders. “Oh, what’s happened to you?”

“King Irwin?” Jade sounded so hesitant, unwilling to break the moment but knowing that this would be her absolute last chance. 

Saved by not only his son, but the girl who had been all but a daughter. 

The smile that spread across his face was cracked by tears, but all the same, he was free, and he had this one moment to see them both grown. 

To see that they were safe.

The light grew stronger, and with a flash of light, Irwin was gone.

Irwin was gone, but with his passing came his peace, and the restoration of Elwood’s powers.

~~

They rested for the remainder of the day, giving themselves time to grieve. 

El didn’t stay away, this time around. He didn’t feel like an outcast to their tears.

He would never truly know his biological parents. He wouldn’t ever see Dundrasil as his home… But his grandfather and his sister did, and he would be there to comfort them in the hour that they needed him in.

Though, when the day fell to night and only El and Erik remained awake, once more El began to feel out of his depth. 

Again, it began to snow. 

But it wasn’t as cold. His fire, while not burning quite as high as it had while he fought, was enough to warm him for now. Though, it helped to have Erik at his side once more. 

It helped, knowing that he had been able to hear him earlier in the day.

That while their bond had not been restored, slowly, it was beginning to regrow.

“You didn’t eat.” Erik pointed out the full bowl that sat by the fire, a weak broth filled with half-wilted wild vegetables. He knew better than to waste food, but the soup had long gone cold, and even if he did manage to choke it all down, the iron had managed to do a number on him, and El was unsure he would even be able to keep it down.

“Can… Can we talk?” El asked, perfectly aware of how similar this moment was to the one they had shared here a year ago. 

“Of course.” Erik answered, even though he hadn’t the memory to pull from. 

Slowly the two of them made it to the river, away from the camp to speak in private. 

It came slowly, but El told Erik the truth. He told him of what the Seer had shown him, the truth behind Erik’s missing memories. 

He didn’t know how long he spoke, airing the terrible truth, but Erik did not break down.

He did not yell. He did not cry.

“Alright.” He said simply, easily. “Thank you for telling me.” How could you grieve, for something you never even knew of? 

This wasn’t the end, and it wasn’t a beginning.

Nothing started anew with the world awash in flames and cruelty.

They weren’t starting from scratch. 

“We were here, when I realized that I love you.” El said,  _ present tense, present tense _ . This was still Erik, still the one person in the world willing to throw himself off cliffs, to carry him across a frozen tundra, to  _ leap into the jaws of despair _ for him — and Elwood was still El, willing to do all the same for Erik. “We… You helped me get through something really… Rough. Just by being there, and you let me wait until I was ready to talk to you about it.”

The river sped along its banks, and the sound of the waterfalls overpowered the sounds of the night. Or it would, if there was any animal or insect life to still  _ be  _ heard.

But this night was nothing like the last they shared here. The stars had all been blotted out. 

Yggdrasil’s light did not shine down on them, and the moon was obscured by the purple aura that surrounded the monstrosity Mordegon had erected in Her place. 

El feared that there wouldn’t ever be nights like that one again. “I know there isn’t much I can do for you now.” Erik watched him carefully, listening but not offering any responses. “I can’t get your memories back. But — I’m here. And I’m going to do what I promised you, whether or not you stay.”

The sound Erik made almost sounded like a laugh, but there was no humor to be found in it.

“‘Whether or not you stay’? Where else would I go?” 

“There are villages.” El offered, not sure why. He truly didn’t  _ want  _ Erik to leave, but at the same time… He didn’t want to expose him to more danger, either. “It’s a long trip from here, but I could take you to the Last Bastion. You would be safe, there. You’re in danger, whenever you’re with us. I don’t want you to-“

“I was in danger before you found me, too.” Erik said. “Nothing’s changed, except now I’m with people who care about me, and want me to stay safe. I think I’ll stay.” He paused. “You said… You said that you realized here, that you love me?

“I did.”

“Then tell me.”

El turned to him, “Tell you-”

“How. Tell me how you realized. How I did. About how you told me, or how I told you. Just… About us.” He stood tall, his missing memories a non-issue, when he had someone who had shared in so many. 

“...Okay,” El said, knowing exactly where to start. “Okay. Do you see that waterfall? Just up there? I think the one in Heliodor was just about that high…”


	16. All the Small Things (That You Don’t Remember)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Did I ever kill anyone?” Erik asks.

Even if he is now more accustomed to walking freely among unfamiliar towns, somehow Octogonia feels just as unnatural as the first time around.

Though he was told he was welcome, El hung at the back of their group, simply watching rather than engaging with the merchants as Sylvando and Hendrik went around from shop to stall, trying to buy up what supplies the people had to spare. 

The months-long journey from the Zwaardsrust region to Sniflheim was hard enough to prepare for when the world was normal, but now knowing what may be waiting for them in the waves…

Who knew how long they could be sailing?

Though at the very least they had what they could purchase here. El had been convinced they would be turned away after what had… happened. But the welcome greetings he was given instead had shocked him.

However, it wasn’t all too surprising if he really stopped to think about it.

If anyone understood the state he had been in, it would be these people. Willing to take in anyone who needed a place to stay, a safe haven for those who had changed.

They mourned the two who had been killed…

But they acted as if Vince wasn’t a loss at all, going as far as to tell him he shouldn’t feel any guilt.

That Vince had gotten what was coming to him, and that even if he had survived, he wouldn’t just have the prisons in his future.

Even still, El cannot rid himself of the guilt that came with their deaths.

when a free moment presents itself, El sneaks away from his friends to take a walk outside of town. There was a graveyard inside the town, but it had long ago run out of space.

Behind the grand structure that housed Octogonia, was a fresh plot of land dedicated to the deceased, and in it El saw six fresh graves.

Three people he does not know.

The two that died at his hands.

And a single, unmarked grave where Vince was put to rest.

He knows what Vince was.

Even sitting here now, he can feel a phantom pain in the horn he lost.

The horn he had been dragged by, months and months ago.

The ghost of the terror he felt when it was all over.

“Hey, you alright?” Erik’s voice drags him from his thoughts, and El looks up to see his red eyes. He had seen Erik like that back then, too.

It had only lasted a few hours, after he had beaten Vince bloody, but it shouldn’t have taken until now to realize how unusual it was. 

Though it wasn’t as if El could exactly ask Erik why that had happened, now.

Erik settles on the earth next to him.

“What’re you doing out here?” Erik asks, “Hendrik wants us to all stick together.”

“And they let you come find me on your own?” El asks, though he knows to expect the flashy grin and shrug that Erik gives him.

“I snuck off as soon as I noticed you were gone.” Goddess above, it hurt when Erik was like this.

When there wasn’t a single thing different about how he behaved, but all the same, everything was gone. 

“I’m here to… pay my respects, I guess.” El finally answers. The gravestones before him are simple. Names, dates. Nothing else.

Not even any flowers left to remember the dead. “Now that Yggdrasil is gone, there’s nowhere for their souls to go. I’m just… Trying to apologize.”

_ Apologize.  _ As if that meant anything to them. As if it would change anything at all. 

It was cold out. A piercing wind blowing through the dry grasses and bringing through the acrid smoke from the nearby flames. 

“Was this… Were these people the first you’ve killed?” Tactful, as always. 

The question should shock El. The fact that he would even need to ask at all… 

But it just doesn’t.

It’s a question that needed to be asked. 

“Yes.” El says, even though he can’t be sure. “I think they were.”

“Did I ever kill anyone?” Erik asks.

“I don’t think you did,” El answered honestly. “You never killed anyone while you were with me, but before… I don’t know.”

_ I don’t want you to hate me.  _

Erik never did get a chance to come clean to El, to explain what it was in his past that was so terrible that Erik believed that he risked El’s hatred. 

_ Had  _ he killed another man? 

El didn’t want to consider the possibility, even as unlikely as it seemed…

Though, even if it was the case. Even if that was what Erik had been hiding all this time… 

_ I promise, nothing you could say could make me stop loving you. _

That still held true.

El would be worse than a hypocrite otherwise.

Erik nods, as if the inconclusive answer is just as acceptable as an entire one. “It sounds like death follows us around. Or at least, it started to after we met.”

El stammers for a moment, at a loss for any kind of defense, but Erik quickly explains that he doesn’t mean that negatively. “It’s just that I don’t know. It’s so quiet in my mind. Everything’s just a theory or a question. I don’t have any memories to fall back on, and even my dreams are silent.” 

El stays quiet as Erik continues on, trying to put words to what it’s like, to be known to everyone but yourself. “Aside from all of you, I don’t even know if I have any other friends. Or any family, aside from the sister you mentioned. But you don’t know her, either.” It’s not a question, it’s not anything that Erik expects a response to. Just a simple statement of fact. 

Erik keeps his eyes fixed on the simple gravestones. “What about your family?” He asks, “I know Rab is your grandfather, and that Jade girl is your sister, but… What else? Are there others?”

“Back in Cobblestone, there's my mum.” El said. He couldn’t remember if he’d ever actually told Erik about his family before, or if he did, if he had explained how he came to be a part of the mish-mash they were. “And Gemma. She’s my best friend, might as well be my sister. And… He’s gone now, but my grandfather. My  _ other  _ grandfather.”

The only reason El had grown up as safe as he had, the only reason he’d had a family at all.

Same for Amber.

The old man had been his hero, and still was to be honest, and it was hardly ever that El was given the opportunity to talk about him. 

And so, he tells Erik about Chalky. 

It’s so easy to pull memories of his grandfather, from all points in his life. 

Though the one he’d always tell first was something that most young Cobblestone children did with their fathers. 

They hadn’t had a typical run for El’s first hunting trip. Chalky a little too old to protect El if need be, and El a little young for the trip in the first place.

He’d wondered why Chalky hadn’t made him wait. Wondered why Amber and the other hadn’t protested as much.

In hindsight, El knew that it was so they could have a trip together at all. 

But even with the differences, and even with their extra company, it was some of the most fun El had ever had with his grandfather. 

The nights in the woods, campfires warming the chilled nights and the epic tales of adventure Chalky had woven… 

El would give near anything to have them back.

He took to the trails naturally, dragon senses heightened just enough to be an asset rather than just a newbie dragging the adults back. 

Chalky had beamed at him as he took down his first buck, and El hadn’t ever felt prouder than when he carried it back home.

Amber had taught him how to preserve the meat, how to preserve the meat and tan the hide. 

The antlers, four-point and small as they had been, were hung on the wall but he doesn’t know if they’re still intact, or there at all. 

“Did I ever meet him?” Erik asked as El’s story winded to a close. 

“No,” El says, though… “I wish you did. I think he would have liked you very much.”

Silence passes for a few moments. “Are you ready to go back, or do you want to wait for them to come drag us back instead?”

It had been so long since El had taken a moment to just rest. To remember. To think about how far he had come.

“Just a few moments more.” El said, feeling an odd sort of peace here amongst the lost. 

Though now that he had been reminded, it was hard to keep his thoughts from drifting back home again. 

It had been different, his last real experience with death. 

He’d been sent to fetch his grandfather for supper.

He had been old enough to understand, but he hadn’t been old enough to be prepared.

At the three-sided Rock they had spent countless afternoons by, fishing lines cast into the shallows, not looking to do more than catch and release and pass the long summer hours, he did find Chalky… But at the same time, it seemed as though the last time he had truly seen his grandpa was that morning, heading out with a promise to bring back the biggest catfish El had ever seen.

The line was cast, but the bobber was still, and his bucket was empty.

El didn’t much remember the funeral they held.

People from across the lands had come to bid their farewell to the old adventurer, but El had hidden away at home, locked into the storehouse to mourn. 

The many people that came and went never caught so much as a glimpse of the young dragon. 

It wasn’t until late in the evening that his tears had dried enough to venture out to the riverside gravesite. 

There were two people standing before the fresh grave, and El had frozen at the sight of them.

He didn’t recognize either figure, sure that they were strangers.

Growing up in an isolated village… He knew every name, every face. Every silhouette. 

If he moved at all, he would alert the grieving duo, and be revealed. 

“He was an old friend.” The old man said, an arm around the young girl whose hair was tied back in a long ponytail with him, though she didn’t seem to be mourning at all. The gesture was just to comfort the old man. “Only met him a few times over the years, he was older than I am, but I never actually expected the old codger to bite it before I did…” 

A friend? El almost broke free from the ice that had encased him.

Amber hadn’t wanted to speak much of her adoptive father since he had passed, and he so desperately wished that she would. Perhaps this old friend would want to share stories of the old adventurer. Maybe he would want… 

The gleam of moonlight off the rippling river water caught El’s eye.

The indistinct pattern just like the way the light caught off his scales.

Reminded of what he was, El let himself remain in the shadows.

He wouldn’t interrupt this moment.

The grave would still be there in the morning.

So many different things to remember Chalky for, and here he was settling on the last he’d ever seen of him.

What would Chalky think of him now?

Would he still be proud of the boy he’d fished from the river?

Would he be sad to see all that he had lost?

Or would he even look at the beaten down creature he’d become and recognize El at all? 

“Come on,” Erik says as he stands, offering a hand up to the dragon. “Let’s head on back before they freak out too much.”

While if it weren’t for the cold, El would find any single reason to remain outside of town, he accepted Erik’s help and let himself be led back inside. 

The change in temperature was immediate.

Well, if there was ever an upside to the way Octogonia was built, it would be the insulation. The heat helped ease his worried mind, but they were caught before the two of them had even managed to get to the bottom of the first staircase.. 

“And where exactly did the two of you steal off to?” Sylvando’s voice stops them both in their tracks. 

If anything, being chastised almost feels like a good thing.

Just one more moment that could almost feel natural.

As if it was just as simple as sneaking off with Erik when there was work to be done.

Though of course, all the apparent changes keep him from falling into fantasy.

A shame, really.

Going from shop to shop, and then inn to inn… So close. So very,  _ very  _ close to normality.

But still too far.

It quickly becomes apparent that they’ll each have to be responsible for finding their own lodging for the night.

With the sudden change to their city, and the quickly growing number of people seeking refuge in the city walls, finding an Inn with enough room to spare for them all soon appears to be an impossible task. 

Even with the inns normally reserved just for the MMA participants open to the public, there isn’t a single one with enough space for each of them.

Even as frustrating as their search became, oddly enough Erik didn’t seem put-off at all. In fact, he’d seemed happier. Ever since the terribly awkward night the two of them shared back in Dundrasil. 

More than just happier.

He was calm. Less unsure of himself and those around him. 

Perhaps it’s that for now it seems that he has the curse under control, or maybe it’s that El isn’t hiding anything anymore. 

Maybe… 

“We’ll split up.” Jade decided, pulling El from his musings. “Unless any of you fancy another night in a tent.”

With the chill in the air, and the strain they’ve all been under, and the tight quarters they have for their impending voyage, there was startling little objection to her idea.

With a stern look and a promise against any more out-of-town excursions, El and Erik are sent off to one of the vacancies they’d learned of earlier. 

But of course, the inn they’d chosen had one last vacancy, and only one bed in that room.

Never before would that have been any kind of issue, but now…

El had no intentions of putting Erik in an uncomfortable situation, no matter how much the other man seemed to be intent on creating them.

The inn a far cry different from the last they had both stayed in, it still managed to dredge up memories that should not have been painful. 

The light filtering through the window was cold and artificial, rather than the silver of the moon reflecting snow. 

The room was small and cramped in comparison to the luxury that the guest suite in the Sniflheim palace had offered… 

But still… 

“Where are you going?” Erik asks, hand reaching out to grab El’s sleeve. “Are… Are you not staying?”

El hadn’t even managed to think out what his plan for the night was. 

It seemed safe enough to stay in his dragon form now, but even so-

“I don’t want to be alone.” Erik confessed.

He-

He didn’t remember. He  _ couldn’t  _ remember. How El had begged Erik to stay in such a very similar way, even in the very same building. 

“I’ll stay.” El said, and Erik let go. 

El took on his smaller form, much in the same way he had when the two of them had stayed together in Gallopolis, though back then Erik hadn’t been as bold as he was now.

Who’d have thought that losing all that he was would also rid him of any inhibitions?

El’s idea of staying on the foot of the bed was quickly squandered as he was picked up, not unlike a house cat. 

He should feel insulted. 

Makes a decent effort to feel indignant about being moved about like a small dog, but as the little dragon is held to Erik’s chest under the covers, arms wrapped around him without a thought spared to his wings and spines… 

He can’t quite care. 

Warm and safe, El sighs, and closes his eyes. 

For half a moment, El feels odd, so very close to Erik but without anything to say. 

But even with everything that has changed, he’s still Erik.

And with where they’re headed… It just may be enough to jog his memory.

Just a little.

~~~

The days pass in an odd sensation of being stationary.

The sun rises and sets, even if the light it emits is hardly visible under the blackened cover of malice-tinged clouds. They make progress, but after a few days… It all looks and feels the same. 

The ocean is still, and every island they pass looks nearly the same. 

El hates it.

The first time they made this journey, it was… Happy. 

They only had a single Orb left to find, and only a few places it could possibly be. He and Erik had been happy. El was going to get see the place Erik grew up in, and at the time, he thought he was going to meet Erik’s family. 

They had a place to go.

They had a plan.

They had a future to look forward to, not knowing just how bleak it would become. 

Even if their journey had been difficult, and he had no true reason to believe that it was about to get any easier… 

But now, day in and out is all but identical. 

And it’s so very, very cold without the bond to keep his fire stoked. 

The surface of the ocean is bathed in sea ice, despite how far south they still sail.

So far away from land, and yet the freeze coats the horizon. 

El didn’t need to be an experienced sailor to understand how unnatural that was. 

The small hauls of fish they pull over the railing with their nets are hardly even fit to eat, and each time they dip it below the waves, they risk alerting the creature that attacked them last time, anyway. 

El wanted to be able to catch them something decent, even if it was for no other reason than to be able to spread his wings and work at least some of this nervous energy, but he knew he would be nothing more than a beacon to attract everything they needed to stay away.

His nerves only grew and grew, trapped in the ship, the confines of the cabins and deck only closing in more and more. 

This hadn’t been any trouble before. 

El hadn’t expected it to become an issue now. 

If nothing else, though, El had expected Erik to become more like himself. To slowly but surely return to his old personality and ways… But the opposite had been proving to be true.

Even if his old self had been beginning to shine through on land…

In the sea, he’d only withdrawn in on himself.

He’d again begun to flinch at sudden movements, and slowly begun to again struggle with names.

Day by day, he’d fallen ill.

“It’s just a bout of seasickness.” Sylvando had tried to brush away El’s concerns, but it has been a flimsy excuse. 

They couldn’t be convincing, not when their own expression had mirrored El’s own fear. 

Besides, Erik has been the single person who hadn’t ever struggled in that way, and even if he had, the symptoms didn’t fit anyway.

As the curse had been purged from El’s mind, it only seemed to grow stronger in Erik’s body.

It was lucky that they hadn’t run into as many monster attacks as they had expected. El spent little of his time on deck. Most of his time between chores wasted away in the small room he had before and was now again sharing with Erik.

Even if now he slept in his little dragon form, curled on a spare pillow rather than in the bed with Erik. 

Not that he would have even thought to, with Erik in such poor condition.

It had started so simply, as if he was only coming down with cold. It wasn’t hard to explain the shakes away with that, after everything the poor soul had gone through in recent weeks. 

But as he only grew worse, and without being able to find anything physically wrong with him…

All El could do was try to make him comfortable. 

Spells didn’t do much for the migraines and full-body aches that he complained of, and there wasn’t anywhere for them to stop along the coast to get help, and even if there was… What can you do for symptoms with no name?

Though, for some reason El had trouble taking Rab’s evaluation as completely honest. 

He did finally feel as though he could see the old man as the grandfather he was, even more so after the blessing in disguise their return to Dundrasil was, his speech in Octogonia hadn’t done well to help build up trust.

It wasn’t as though El believed that Rab would outright lie about Erik’s condition, but… 

Bleary red eyes looked up at El, glazed over with pain and fever.

No. Rab wouldn’t lie about this. 

He had to believe that.

It was just exhaustion. 

Erik would heal in time. 

Until then, this was all he could do. 

It isn’t until their ship is once more attacked by Alizarin that they get any kind of answer. 

Once more their ship is rocked enough to topple everything in their storage, to wake each last person on board as the great salamander challenges them. 

Thinking that Erik is too unwell to follow this time around, El doesn’t spare a thought beyond making sure that the sudden awakening hadn’t left him in too terrible a panic.

Though truly, he should have known that Erik would follow, no matter the condition he was in.

El bursts through the cabin door alongside Jade, Sylvando, Hendrik, and Rab already engaged in battle with the creature, but their hits were bouncing harmlessly off it’s barrier shield like raindrops.

As it laughs, it sees El.

Recognized the accursed creature it had thought it’d sent to it’s doom. 

Not even bothering with a taunt this time, the creature held it’s orb aloft, but the spell fizzles over El, not a single drop of the dark magic so much as touching him.

_ Just  _ him.

Of course, Erik hadn’t stayed where it was safe.

He goes down, but in pain rather than with the same feral rage it gave to El.

“Get him safe!” El orders above the crash of water against the ship. 

The barrier protecting the creature from Rab’s attack… Before, he knew it was what kept them from being able to take the creature down, but now… With his mind clear, El knows what it is that he can do.

Even if magic attacks are blocked… Elementals may not be.

Mark of light shining brighter than he could ever remember, with his own natural aptitude and without a spell, El calls down lightning.

The fight should not be over as easily as it was, but the single strike of lightning was all it took.

The electricity boiling the water both on and inside the amphibian’s skin. 

Alizarin falls with a bone-chilling howl, crumbling to dust and smoke, and the orb it carried in its possession falling to the deck of their ship.

The fight was over, but El didn’t take so much as a breath to rejoice. 

Erik was still down, and hadn't moved a muscle from where he had been dragged to safety. 

Blood falls in a single red line from his lip, a bitten tongue just a drop of pain in the ocean he was under. 

Nails that suddenly look so much like claws digging into his scalp. 

As if El’s presence alone helped to ease the pain, Erik managed to let go of the sides of his head.

The keening stops, but he doesn’t move. 

He can barely understand everything that’s happening, but El speaks to him anyway.

Not paying any attention to what he’s even saying. Meaningless comforts, repetitive and simple.

Just something to fill the air with anything other than the terrible sound that Erik had made.

A few spells were cast, and Rab was able to lessen some of the pressure in his skull, though it’s sadly little in the long run. 

Without knowing the source of the agony, he could only do so much to block the pain.

But if the effect of the orb this time around had truly been the cause… Rab wouldn’t do much for the curse, either.

With a sinking heart, El knows that they can’t carry on this way.

They need help.

The last few days at sea pass easily.

Not so much as a monster sighting, the waves clear and blue without the influence of that monster and the ill-gotten Orb. 

Once more Lorelei’s Harp proves it’s value, allowing them to pass the golden barrier keeping the Sniflheim people trapped, but so similar to their first visit, the docks are empty.

“The fall of Yggdrasil has changed everything.” Rab carefully warned El, “It’s more than likely that Sniflheim didn’t escape unharmed.” 

El nodded, already knowing that he should be expecting the worst.

But..

The warning wasn’t all just meant for him.

Whether he remembered or not, this place had at some point been Erik’s home.

Too see it destroyed… 

Somewhere deep down, Erik would remember this place, wouldn’t he?

Making it to the piers does nothing to get El’s hopes up. 

They cross the old wooden boards slowly, searching for any sign of life.

There are merchant ships, but they float on the light waves in silence, but rather than ice creeping up from the freezing water, stalactites of gold hold them in place, creeping across the wood surface as if it was moss growing on rotting wood planks. 

Even if the gates to the grand city are unfrozen and open, El cannot help but feel a pit in his stomach. 

The same kind of dread that Erik had upon their last visit, but a dread he now only had himself to share in. 

People turned to ice once, now facing another incomprehensible threat.

Through the gilded gates, they found only silence.

A blustering cold wind cut through the town, though there wasn’t a soul in sight to feel it. 

“Right.” Rab said as he scanned the city to see it barren, “Why don’t the lot of you take a look around town and see if you can’t find anything at all? While ye all do that, I think-“

“My-

My heart is beating like crazy…” Erik says, breath coming short and words curt, as if he hadn’t even registered that Rab had been speaking. “Feels like I can’t breathe.”

“Do you need to-“ Sylvando is cut off as Erik furiously shakes his head. 

“No! No.” He all but growls. “I need… I need to stay.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Rab says, carefully approaching Erik. “We aren’t making you go anywhere you don’t want to.” With a direct glance at El, Rab speaks again to them both. “While they all go off looking for  **people** , why don’t the both of you come with me? I’d think we’d better check in with Queen Frysabel before we head off to Arboria.”

It was left unsaid, but while they remained here they would be able to get Erik the help he needed, a favor to be paid from saving the kingdom before, and not only that, but El could meet with Krystalinda.

Find an answer for the pain that had still not abated.

“I… I’m sorry.” Erik apologized, “I don’t mean to be a burden…” 

El stretched a wing around his shoulders, unaware of how else to offer any comfort. With the way he’d been whipping between being level, and being that lost sort of terrified they’d initially found him as… 

“You aren’t a burden.” Rab tried to assure him, “Never have been. Come on now, the both of you.”

Hendrik moved away, Jade in tow down the empty roads, Sylvando taking the other direction. 

Between the three of them they should be able to find at least a little information. 

Finally, a sign of the city’s life at the gates of the castle.

The two guards smiled at the familiar faces, but kept their distance. “Ah, you’re the travelers who came here before, are you not? It is good to see you all alive and well. Please, Her Majesty has been most concerned for your well being, you must go and see her.”

A warm welcome, a relieving change from the normal sustain they were greeted with, but the soldier’s forced smile harshed the warmth. “Truth be told,” he continued on, almost hesitant, “Our Kingdom is currently beset by a terrible plague. You must understand if our people do not offer you the same kindness as before.”

“A plague?” Rab asked, but the guard did not offer any further explanation. 

“Her Majesty will explain it all. Please,” he said once more, “Go and see her. Relieve her of this worry.”

Though the halls of the palace are emptier than they had been before, there are still some of the elite scattered throughout, staring at El and his company, and muttering things about strangers and…  _ gold? _

“Cheer up, Yer Majesty!” Rab kept his tone light, as if they hadn’t just heard of the disaster that caused her such distress. “What’s got ye looking so glum?”

El caught only the slightest whisper from Erik, too low to make out, and El would have thought he had only imagined it, if the words didn’t come again.

“...Familiar.”

El missed the Queen’s response as he instead turned his attention to his partner. What was familiar?

The town, castle,  _ Queen?  _

But instead, Erik’s eyes were stubbornly fixed on the ground. 

Just hardly audible to El’s ears, he kept whispering, as if he was alone, and not in the audience of the Queen. 

“What's that now?” El’ s attention snapped back to his grandfather as Erik suddenly shuddered at a single word. “‘Gold Fever’?”

“It all began just a few months ago. Not long after Yggdrasil fell, you see. A strange disease, unlike any other our scholars and healers have ever seen. It’s affecting anything that lives, and even spreads to that which is not. People, animals, plant life and even stone and earth. Anyone or anything that catches it turns entirely to gold.”

Erik’s hand took tight hold to El’s sleeve, his eyes stretched wide and fearful at the Queen’s words. 

“To…  _ Gold?”  _ His grip on El only grew tighter, to the point that his wrist began to hurt, but El didn’t say anything to stop him. 

“We don’t know what causes it, or how to cure it, so each one of my subjects live in fear of being struck down next. I’ve tried to send for help, but each route out of the kingdom is blocked by great golden obstacles. We are completely cut off.” Her eyes turned from Rab to El. “Dear Krystalinda was helping to study the disease, but with the addition of the red-eyed curse, my people panicked. They fear her abilities, and for her own safety, I was forced to lock her away in the dungeons.” 

She looked down, as if she was ashamed of the fact. “Please understand, I didn’t have a choice.”

“There, there Your Majesty. Dinnae look so crestfallen, we’ll get to the bottom of this for ye. Just one favor I need to ask of ye in turn.” Rab gestured to Erik, eyes unfocused, staring off to just the side of the throne, and holding tightly to El’s arm. “Our friend here is unwell, and we could very much use your help.”

“Of course we will help.” Frysabel deflated in relief. “You have always been so kind to me, it is the least I can do to help.”

“Dear Elwood,” Frysabel caught just attention, “If you may, I want you to go and speak with Krystalinda. We do believe to have found something about the dragonspawn’s demise, but with the current situation, it isn’t good news. You have every right to know of what we found.”

A cold feeling settles into El’s bones.

“Go on, now.” Rab tells him, “You and Erik both should talk to her. And don’t you worry none, I’ll find you both afterwards.”

With a nod, and a simple farewell to the Queen, a pair of guards escort El and Erik to the dungeons.

For the walk, El is astounded that the Queen would allow her friend to have to stay in such conditions, his mind floating back to his own stint in chains…

Though he should have known better.

In most ways Sniflheim seemed to treat their people better than Heliodor. Both visits now, he had yet to see anyone out on the streets begging, though that could very well just be due to the Kingdom being frozen in one way or another each time… But point aside, even the dungeons seemed more comfortable.

El would much rather have been kept prisoner here, not quite luxurious, but a far cry better than dripping walls and stagnant pools of water and worse.

Krystalinda sat back on the floor of her birdcage shaped cell, propped against the bars. Her hair was down, the intricate up-do gone. Through a curtain of hair, she looked up.

Red eyes.

Just as El’s and just as Erik’s.

“So you live.” The voice he remembered as dramatic was flat and lifeless. She didn’t stand to meet them, either too weak to, or perhaps just too drained. “Elwood… How nice of you to visit. Don’t you worry, I am still myself, hard as it has been.”

“Queen Frysabel said-”

“That I would tell you what we discovered.” She sighed, looking no less defeated than she did months ago. “Sit down, we have much to discuss.”

With nothing further, she began to spin a tale. Pieced together bit by bit, and still so much unknown, or only speculation. A plague known as the Blight, that started mere months after Erdwin rose to the heavens. There is a record of it starting, but no record of it ending, or how, or why, or how many died.

“It came overnight, and disappeared the same way.” Krystalinda explained, “and seemingly, with it went our people.”

“Then how…” El trailed off, too many questions to settle on just one. Even if a disease had taken them, that wouldn’t rip all memory of them from the world, would it?

“I’m sorry.” Krystalinda said, “But I have nothing more to tell you. And if this Gold Fever continues as it is, I fear there won’t ever be an answer to this mystery.”

“Is it related?” Erik spoke up to ask, though El hadn’t realized he’d been listening. “The Gold Fever, and the Blight?”

She looked at him as though seeing him for the first time. “Who’s to say?” She answered, now enthralled in a separate mystery. “Tell me, what happened to you both? Your bond is gone.”

“‘Bond’?” Erik asked. 

Had he never- El realized with a jolt that even though Erik had somehow pieced together that he was a keeper, that he never learned about the bond.

Of all the things he didn’t tell him.

Of  _ all the things  _ he did tell him-

Somehow he forgot what could’ve been the most important. 

“It’s gone.” El explained. “During the fall… Erik lost his memories.” That was more than just simplifying the situation, but all the same, “The bond vanished with them.”

At last, Krystalinda began to show some emotion. “Vanished? Then…” She shook her head sadly. “I am sorry for your loss.”

“It can come back, right?” Erik said, lost and confused but still asking. “Whatever it is, when my memories come back…”

“Child,” She spoke soothingly, as if to someone much, much younger than herself, or as if to someone grieving. “The way the bond triggered between you two was unusual, from how you described it. But no matter what the reason so, it grew far too fast and far too strong, which was why you both had a constant mental link. Normally that lasts a few days when it finishes growing, and tapers off to something the two or more dragons can regulate, cutting off thoughts and feelings and sensations as they desire. But for it to last months….”

Krystalinda stopped to simply marvel. Never had she considered herself an expert on the way her kind worked, what exactly it was that made their bonds tick, but she knew enough to be sure that this was abnormal at best.

“To be frank, both of you are lucky to have survived it’s break. If you so wish to try again, you have a chance now to have it build safely. Naturally.”

Without a doubt, El wanted it back.

But… He hesitated to say so. 

“But. If it’s severed again in such a way, it’s not likely you will both survive. Please, think wisely on this.”

“We wouldn’t-“ El repeated, “Why would it be a risk?”

“The bond is more than just inside your heads. You saw how it changed you both, felt it’s physical characteristics. When it broke, it broke something inside of you as well.” Krystalinda stared off at the ground. “It can heal, it can regrow, but the more it is hurt, the more you risk it never being repaired.”

El took Erik’s hand in his own.

That pain-

“Spend time together.” Krystalinda said, “Let it reforge. The pain will lessen, and with any luck in this world, you won’t ever need to heed my warning.”

El didn’t speak, and Krystalinda sighed. “Not all is lost. I didn’t mean to scare you, whelp. And besides, that isn’t what you came to me to speak of. More importantly… Gold Fever is not the blight. I was long gone before it started and never saw any of its symptoms, but I am positive that it and gold fever are not one in the same. However,” The gestured to Erik, “You do make a good point. It could be related. Like a curse made to spread like disease. Like shypox.” A beat of silence. “Like our red eyes.”

With more information than they had, but less than they needed, they leave.

Krystalinda gave them what help she could, but locked up in a dungeon, it was precious little. 

They meet Rab waiting for them outside the castle, and it doesn’t take long for the rest of the group to join.

Jade hurries to the trio, looking them up and down. “There you are. Is everything alright?” 

Rab shakes his head. “Not hardly. You see…” As Rab relays what they learned, El spots an old woman hobbling across the square. 

_ I don’t want to interrupt,  _ El says silently, lest he startles her, and gestures in her direction.

Rab has no such worries. “Ah! Hello there, ma’am.” 

She stops in her tracks, hands held close to her chest, eyes wide at the group of strangers. “D’ye have a minute or two to spare? We’d like to ask ye a few questions, if that’s quite alright.”

“Do I have a minute, you ask!” El was taken back by the glare she have and the way she spat her words at them as if they were below her. “How can I know, when every second might be my last? You’d do well to leave this place before you turn to gold, too!” 

“Now, I didn’t mean any-“ Rab tried to defend himself, or to apologize, El wasn’t sure. They didn’t have time to figure it out, as the woman’s eyes fell on Erik, and instead of hostile, suddenly she became shocked.

“I know you!” She cried out, “You’re that boy, Erik!”

In a single moment, El felt both indescribable hope, and horrible, horrible apprehension. If they found someone that knew Erik, then they had someone who may know Mia’s whereabouts.

But if Erik truly had been hiding for a reason…

Then this could very well have been a mistake. “You… you know me?” 

But the woman wasn’t upset.

On the contrary, she was suddenly friendly. As if no one else but Erik shared the town square with her. “Oh, don’t be silly. Everyone in Sniflheim knows you! You’re the- the…” She trailed off with a cough. Hands grasping at the collar of her dress, as a horrible dark cloud began to form around her. 

She chokes, and stumbles back. 

As if they were all one, they move forward, wanting to help but without a single clue how.

“What’s the matter dear, are you okay?” Sylv reaches out a hand, but his offer comes too late.

In a flash of white light, the cloud is gone, and the woman is solid gold.

Erik falls back screaming a name he doesn’t know. “M- _ Mia!” _

Terror is quick to change to agony, the name distorting into a wordless cry for help. 

El tries to help him but Erik bats away his hand. He’s in more pain than he had ever known and doesn’t know why. His hands are ripping at his hair and when El and Jade finally manage to pull his hands away, El sees horns.

Small things, hardly visible through the broken skin, and blood, and hair-

But all the same.

_ “Mia… Mia…”  _ Under his breath, over and over, not hearing a thing, not even aware of what he said. 

Ever so painfully slowly, the curse was changing Erik. 

And El didn’t know what he could possibly do. 

~~

They’re given suites in the castle to stay in, and Erik is left alone to rest. 

What few Royal attendants the Queen could spare had left hours ago, after doing what little in their power that they could do to alleviate his pain. 

Far too little, but still, all they had. 

El couldn’t fault them for that, no matter how much he wanted to. 

So much, Erik had to endure after the fall.

So much of it alone, and even now that he had El again, that he had all their friends… Still, he may as well be on his own.

El closes his eyes, tilting his head back against the wall, unable to chase away the sight burned into his mind, but it wasn’t as though he was even trying.

Horns hadn’t been the only change, coming on too fast to be anything but agonizing. 

But more than that, was something he could only describe as a rash, covering his arms and legs, red and horrible. 

And not a single damned thing he could do.

Not a single damned thing, but that wasn’t going to stop El from trying.

Coming off the tail end of yet another pointless meeting with Queen Frysabel, discussing the same frugal information again and again, all he had left to do was to build up the courage to go inside. 

Erik would likely still be asleep, or at the very least unaware of any company.

There wasn’t anything for El to be afraid of, and… Honestly, that was what scared him the most. 

But just standing out here was wasting precious seconds, and against the terrible feeling he had, El pushed the door open.

The room was empty.

The window was open.

Erik was gone without a trace.

The moment El’s heart returns from his stomach, El slams the door behind him and races for the room where Rab is sharing with Jade. 

Wings spread wide unconsciously, not searching for a draught to catch, just without the mind to spare to keep them folded.

The time it takes to gather up a search party passes in a fog.

El hardly able to do much as think over his panic. 

Erik doesn’t know where he is. Can hardly remember anything he’s been told, and it’s only getting colder and colder out. 

El remembers waking up in the cabin not far from the city, wrapped warm and tight in Erik’s arms after his scare with hypothermia.

It had taken an entire night and the better part of a day just to gain back enough heat to stay awake.

He doesn’t want to find Erik in that state.

He  _ knows  _ that Erik isn’t like him, that he can handle a chill, but that doesn’t stop the terror freezing in his blood and sending all sorts of horrible images to his mind.

Footprints in the snow, and drops of blood.

Erik.

El knows the risk he’s taking.

Even with the few fire enchantments given to help stave off the cold, he knows he doesn’t have much time before the ice and snow all become too much. 

“You come right back if it gets too cold.” Jade says as she ties off one last charm around his horn. “You can’t help Erik if you get sick, too.”

El gives her a nod, and only barely resists flying off in the middle of everyone else’s warnings. 

He’s  _ wasting time.  _ More cold resistant than the average person or not, Erik won’t last out in the blizzards forever. 

“You get him and come right back here,” Rab instructed, speaking firm but without any effort to hide the concern he had for the young man. The act he had put on to keep El on a straight path melted away now that someone who may as well be one of his own was again in danger. 

_ I understand.  _ El said silently, and felt his heart sink at the looks of shock that crossed his friend’s faces. 

Of course each of them could hear him now, when Erik could not.

El takes off with a push from the earth, sending up clouds of the soft powder. 

Straight up as high as he can until the track is hardly even visible.

It’s colder the higher he rises but faster, too. 

Even under the darkened skies, the snow is a bright white canvas below, and even as far into the sky he soars, the red drips are unmistakable. 

Aside from the footprints, El can see deeper indentations in the snow, as if Erik had stumbled and fallen, only to pick right back up. 

Ill and injured, how in Yggdrasil’s name had been found the strength to push on?

What remained of flat land began to give way to only rocky slopes and mountains.

El was about to stop and reevaluate his path, see if the trail he was following had been double-backed, if he had lost Erik’s in favor of an injured animal-

When a flash of blue caught his eye. 

Higher up on a plateau than he should have been, the narrow stretch of flat rock sandwiched between two sheer cliff faces, Erik stood under the meager shelter of an evergreen. 

El lands hard on the snow, nearly losing his balance on the slick frozen-over sheet of ice. Again, he has to question exactly how Erik had so easily traversed such a harsh path.

As soon as he was steady enough, El changed to his human form. 

The enchanted heat charms now working in tandem with the magically enhanced fur-lined coat Veronica had helped engineer the last time they had visited. 

But before El could do much as open his mouth to berate Erik or possibly even just thank the gods, Erik spoke.

Erik’s hair has icicles in the drooping blue spikes, and the blood has soaked the back of the light tunic he wears.

There was nothing protecting him from the cold, and yet he didn’t do much as shiver. 

He recognizes El, in a moment of clarity, and gestures to the locked door.

“There’s something through there,” Erik says past his clenched teeth, “Something important. I- I don’t know what. But- I can’t go alone. Please, please El-“

It’s not a question of whether or not he’ll help. This is  _ Erik.  _ Memories or not, he’d always be there. He made his promise, and he would stay even after it was fulfilled.

Both of them covered in ice crystals or not, a promise to come back as soon as possible or not…

Some things took precedent. 

The lock isn’t hard to get past. Old and rusted over from so many freezes and thaws, it gives with little effort. 

Inside… 

It’s just as cold as it was outside, but it almost looks like someone had once lived in it. 

Dust covers what looks like a make-shift bed, old drawers emptied and a table barren.

Potted plants overgrown or long-dead, and cobwebs spun thick in the corners…

It was clear that no one had been here in years.

Erik wasn’t more than a few feet past the door when tears began to fall. 

Silent but steady, and for no reason he could understand.

“I was… Here, before. But… I don’t know when. 

And in the center of the cavern, next to a puddle of  _ solid gold,  _ is a root of Yggdrasil.

For a moment, Erik’s memories are forgotten. 

A  _ root!  _

Even a sign of life as frail as this… She’s alive. She’s alive, and as the bud glows golden, She means to help. 

El approaches the bud, and it blooms with a brilliant shine of light, plunging him and Erik both into the past.

Erik, so much younger, but anything but fresh-faced.

Grey mud, or what was perhaps and old bruise marred his face and he lugged crates across the cave floor.

Vikings laughed at his expense, told him to be thankful for the life he had.

The life they had spared him.

_ “One of these days, we’re going to get our hands on a whole pile of treasure, and then we can wave this lousy place goodbye.” _

So sure, even with the day he and his sister had suffered through.

Day after day, everything only getting worse.

The exhaustion, the pain, the hunger.

Giving more and more, until the both of them hardly had the energy to make it back to the shelter they had built themselves.

The  _ home  _ that they had to build.

Not even allowed the proper shelter that the Vikings had.

Horror after horror, El had to witness.

A beautiful golden necklace, and the horrible greed it spawned.

The mythical power it brought.

The fervor that Mia used her power, until it consumed her as well. 

_ “If only we had wings… We could fly away from here.” _

The vision fades, the light around them dimming until nothing is left. 

Too many thoughts running through El’s mind to focus on any single one

“I don’t understand,” Erik stammered out, his eyes searching for any remaining vestiges of what he had seen. 

But not a wisp of the illusion remained. “That- that was me? And the girl…”

_ Mia,  _ he had said. His sister? But- “I don’t understand,” Erik said again, turning just in time to see El’s grief-stricken expression before he was pulled in close.

It helped, it truly did… But it couldn’t stop everything that ran through his head.

The root had shown him something he didn’t remember. It had shown him something that should have brought it all back, but instead…

The memories stayed just as far out of reach.

“I don’t understand!”


	17. The Price Paid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If what you said is true, if we had that bond- if you really still love me, even like this… You’ll help me.”

“I don’t understand!” Erik cried into El’s coat, nails-turned talons digging into the fabric. Over and over again he cried out his confusion, the grief he couldn’t stop and yet couldn’t comprehend.

Everything he had seen, everything that he had apparently done, and none of it what he knew.

“I’m sorry.” El said to the empty air, an apology not only to the man in his arms, but to the girl that was no longer there. “I’m so sorry.”

Erik made no clear response.

It didn’t make  _ sense.  _ Erik had spoken of Mia as if she were alive, as if she was ill, as if she could be  _ cured.  _

But the spot where the golden statue had been was entirely empty, and El was left without any answers.

Except for one.

He knew now.

Knew what it was that Erik held so close to his chest. What it was that tore him up inside every single day, and what it was that he felt he couldn’t tell another soul.

Even though it may not mean much to him now… “It’s not your fault,” El said, a hand at the nape of Erik’s neck, running through the short blue spikes, not caring for the frozen blood that had dripped down. “I told you nothing could ever make me hate you. That’s still true.” Sobs shook the shoulders El held tight, so careful of the new wounds on his back. “I love you.”

Erik didn’t respond verbally, though his shakes seemed to calm, just ever so slightly. 

Bring him back right away, El had been told. Don’t waste time.

Well.

It wouldn’t be the first time he’d broken rules for Erik, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. 

He needed to give Erik the time he needed to grieve, but it was quickly becoming more and more difficult. 

The cold was quickly overpowering the simple enchantments El had, and Erik’s skin was ice cold, and though he dearly wanted to believe that it was just a trick of the low light, a reflection off of the icicles hanging in the light… Erik’s skin that had been so red and irritated was tinged a cold blue.

They were running low on time.

Soon enough, they would both be stuck here to freeze. 

It was thankfully easy to dry Erik’s tears, and when he finally pulls away from El’s grasp to stand, he can hardly believe so much has changed in such little time.

Though, to be fair, for most people the change happened instantaneously. Change happening rapidly or not, Erik was the outlier here. 

More lucid than he had been in days, Erik’s eyes focus on the frozen form of a golden gull. Unbidden, he wipes away the tears that again threaten to overtake him.

Somehow, even without the memories of what this place is, his only knowledge second-hand… He can’t help but grieve.

Everything had been horrible, living here. But they were both at the very least human. At least alive.

Erik’s legs are shaky as he stands barefoot on the ice-cold stone, and finally as he looks away from the hovel he once called home, and back to the dragon he once regarded as the same, “I’m not cold.” He says, “I can’t feel the snow at all.”

The light in the cave is dim, but with it, it’s enough to realize that the blue-tinge on Erik’s skin isn’t hypothermia at all.

Speckling over his skin in a patternless fashion

we’re small, blue scales.

The addition of  _ scales  _ only made their situation more dire.

If Erik has changed this much- If there was any possibility that he’d become cold-blooded like El, then they can’t afford to stay still.

Much longer in the snow, and it’ll be too late for them both.

And the fact that he can’t feel it at all- El doesn’t want to believe that he could be that far gone already, but standing barefoot in the snow for goddess knows how long… El pushes off the cold ground and back to his feet. The cold is pressing through his coat, the ice already sinking through his skin, but he wasn’t the one who needed the enchantments the most right now. 

“...I don’t need it.” Erik says as El drapes the fur-lined coat over his shoulders. “I’m not cold, I don’t need this.”

El doesn’t listen, but he doesn’t force Erik to wear it properly, either. “We need to leave,” he says instead, “We can be back to Sniflheim before dark if I hurry-”

“No!”

El nearly jumps at the force of Erik’s refusal. His hands had come to hold tight to the sleeves falling empty at his sides, claws ripping through the thick fabric. “I can’t leave without Mia. You- you saw what I did to her. This is my fault. I have to fix it.”

El tries to reason with him, futile as his efforts might be. He doesn’t know what’s become of the statue that Erik’s sister had become, had no idea of where to even begin looking. 

He had no intentions of leaving Sniflheim without doing whatever he could to find her, and, goddess willing that it was possible, bringing her back to her human self. But right now, they needed to get somewhere warm. Somewhere safe. “We can’t help Mia if we freeze.” El finished, not unaware that he was borrowing Jade’s own words. 

Whether or not that made him a hypocrite… What did that matter? There were more important things to worry about.

“No!” Erik refused, again and again. Stubborn before, impossible now. “I can’t leave… She’s… Around here, somewhere.” Erik says, taking a stumbling step towards the far back of the cavern. “I don’t know how, but- I  _ know.  _ Please, El.” He fixes the dragon with a stare so desperate- “If what you said is true, if we had that bond- if you really still love me, even like this… You’ll help me.” 

El should refuse. Their situation could only get worse out from here. There’s no proper shelter for creatures like them, and venturing back outside could possibly just be suicide-

But El couldn’t ever say no.

Not when Erik needed him more now than ever. 

“Alright,” El agreed, sealing their fate one way or another. “Alright. I’ll help.”

~~

Elwood had been instructed to take no longer than an hour to search.

They had  _ all  _ been under the time constraint. So when Rab was joined first by Jade, then Sylvando, and finally Hendrik, without a single trace of smoke or scale-

He knew his grandson hadn’t listened to him.

The  _ brainless lizard!  _ Rab should have known he would have done this.

He’d tried to be strict.

Tried to have Elwood truly understand the weight that he had to carry.

He’d been blunt back in Octogonia. Perhaps too much so. 

Rab hadn’t intended to drive Elwood further into himself, but he’d been so terrified for the boy. For both boys.

For the entire world.

Just because there was a Luminary born didn’t mean that they would be successful. 

The world around them now was more evidence to that point than Rab cared to have.

They had one last shot at fixing this.

At saving what remained of their world-

He could squander it.

Couldn’t let anything get in Elwood’s way.

Rab regrets the harsh words he gave to El when what the lad needed was kindness.

He knew both now and in that moment that it was the wrong thing to say, but fear had driven him beyond that kind of simple reason, drove him to see Elwood not as his own flesh and blood but the Luminary they all needed him to be.

But remorse was not something he had time for, now.

Heavy snow clouds grew on the horizon, and if he wasted more time, they very well could lose their only chance at finding either of their missing boys. 

“No luck at all?” Rab asked the group at large, knowing already from their expressions that their efforts had been fruitless, but desperately hopeful all the same.

“Nothing at all.” Hendrik reported. “I followed the same tracks that the Luminary did, but lost them at a cliff. The _ bottom  _ of a cliff.” He added on before anyone could panic.

Okay.  _ Okay,  _ that’s hardly good news, but… A plan, what they need is a plan.

Though, with the sheer size of the region, there isn’t any single good place to start.

Not to mention the Hekswood.

Rab can’t help but begin to panic at the thought of the two boys getting lost in there.

Not after-

Not after how close their call was last time.

“Perhaps we should start with this cliff?” Jade suggested after a beat of silence, not willing to waste even a second of the time they had to find her brother and his partner. 

It’s agreed that they may as well begin there, when suddenly Sylvando points out that they are no longer the only living beings in the square.

There’s five sabercats. 

Gold from the tips of their ears to the end of their tails. 

And heading straight for them.

More victims of Gold Fever? Rab wastes no time in readying a spell, and sees that he’s not the only one to prepare to fight-

But the wildcats aren’t headed for them at all, rather, they only seem to notice the old woman who had been turned to stone.

“Don’t let them take her!” Sylvando continues to draw their swords, but stops as Rab reaches out an arm to halt them.

“Let them take her.” Rab takes charge in El’s absence. “I think we ought to follow our friends here, and see what’s become of the victims.

It’s more than a hunch, but less than guaranteed. “We may just find our missing dragon at the end.”

“Are you certain it is wise to stake your bets on following these creatures?” Hendrik asks, but does not protest following the sabercats. 

“There isn’t anywhere else they would be.” Jade muttered, more annoyed than worried now.

“Trust us, Henny dear.” Sylvando said, dragging the knight by his hand, “We know by now that when there’s something odd going on, those two are likely smack in the middle of it all.”

**~~**

For as unsteady and off-kilter as Erik is, he insists on leading the way.

Or, lead as much as he can while all but hanging off of El’s shoulder. 

They’re leaving a trail of blood in the snow, but they can hardly find the presence of mind to care.

It wasn’t much, dripping down to melt the snow, but it was already too much.

He needed safety. He needed shelter, and here El was, letting him guide them both further into danger.

But the red of Erik’s blood isn’t the only thing to be seen against the backdrop of white and grey. 

Just beyond the little cavern, and just up a single slope, is a castle.

A  _ golden _ castle, not quite the size of the palaces El has seen, but daunting nonetheless, and clearly not something that belonged out here in the wastes.

“This is it.” Erik says. “She’s in there.”

The reason as to why Erik knows, he can’t even begin to guess.

With nothing to go off of, he should be more skeptical.

But there’s something about his determination that made El give in. 

Unsure of everything else until this point, perhaps it was just that he had any certainty at all that proved that he wasn’t just following nothing. 

Through the castle doors, they cannot hear a thing.

The wind outside inaudible through the walls, and not a single thing to be heard inside

But, it is blessedly warm.

The wind chill was gone, not a speck of snow to be seen, the space around them warmed and lit from the lanterns hanging on the walls, turning the gold blindingly bright. 

El shuddered as the chill began to leave his frame, but Erik hardly even noticed.

He only pressed on. 

Wide open halls and room, twisting staircases that are all identical to one another.

A maze, or perhaps not.

If the layout was meant to confuse them, to trip them up and leave them lost, then there wouldn’t be so much strewn across the floors. 

Gold coins and natural treasures, precious stones and gems littered corners in piles, priceless art hanging crooked off of hangers, placed haphazardly as if the person who laid claim to it all hardly cared for the individual pieces at all, and simply just wanted it in their possession. 

A hoard, though so much different than the one that El had kept.

In the beginning of his collection, it had been that way. Any feather he could get his claws on was added to the growing stashes, but as that stash grew, and as he found more than simple molted chicken feathers, he became slowly more critical. 

He wanted feathers, as silly as it seemed,  _ unique  _ to his collection. He wanted ones that stood out in color and size, and he had, in a way, taken care of it.

But all this… 

It was treated like it wasn’t anything special.

The silent halls only seem to grow quieter, emptier. 

And it begins to grow an uneasy feeling in El’s gut.

No place should be this quiet even when Sniflheim had been frozen solid, there had been the sound of the wind and the waves…

But it was as if there wasn’t a single living being inside these halls.

Only El, only Erik.

Only the statues.

Then finally, there’s a sound. 

The scraping sound of metal dragging across metal.

El froze, trying to pinpoint the sound.

It was coming from further up the corridor. 

“We might should-“ El tried to warn Erik. He cut off, unable to finish as the sound came again.

And again.

Until it was rapid, a multiple of the solitary initial noise, now many, and from what it seemed, racing right to them.

El shoved Erik off of him.

He yelled out as he hit the floor, but El didn’t take the time to apologize. 

Drawing his sword, El stood his ground. Whatever it was coming, it wouldn’t be friendly. 

Sabercats, solid gold living statues.

And not the first that they had seen, El realized. His stomach dropped as he thought of all the gilded monsters they’d passed on their way through the castle.

If they were all alive like these cats-

Then he didn’t stand a chance of fighting. 

But as the cats drew near, and El fanned out his wings in a sorry attempt to hide Erik, the monsters did not attack. 

But as if under a spell, they do not so much as even growl.

But hardly one to take an extra few moments for granted, El takes the first move.

Only for his sword to  _ clang  _ loudly against the golden skin, not leaving a cut, or even so much as a mark at all.

Golden all the way through. 

But El keeps his sword drawn, trying to find a way to deal out  _ any  _ sort of damage to the creatures, as they draw closer and closer-

But  _ still  _ they make no attack.

As if they were tame.

Or at the very least, under some sort of command.

Without taking his eyes off the creatures, slowly El bent to help Erik back up. “Sorry,” he muttered as Erik’s knee cracked loudly in the small space. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, just-“

“Didn’t want  _ them  _ to hurt me.” Erik finished, though he sounded miffed. “Don't worry. I get it.” 

Escorted the rest of the way, their golden guardians silent still, the clattering of their paws on the floor echoing like cannon fire.

Dread pools in El’s stomach, and at last, they come to one last door.

It looks the same as all the others, but he knows whatever it is behind this structure, is in that last room.

“Are you ready?” El asks, the surreality of what surrounded them sending his heart racing. He didn’t know what to even begin to expect to see, but he knew it wasn’t going to be anything simple.

“Do I have a choice?” 

El looks him over one last time, blue hair that normally is spiked back falling into his eyes, some of it matter with blood from the slowly growing horns.

Red eyes

Fangs.

Scales.

His Erik,  _ his Erik,  _ and yet… Not.

“You always have a choice,” El says, taking Erik’s taloned hand in his own, “I promised you I’d help in any way I could. If you want to wait out here, I can go by myself. You don’t have to do anything.”

Before, Erik wouldn’t ever had even considered it. Would have dug his heels in and refused to let El fight on his own.

But now-

“No,” Erik said. “Mia is here somewhere. I have- I have to go. I won’t let you go by yourself.”

But now, it seems like nothing had truly changed.

El pushes the last door open, and find that he really couldn’t have guessed to what he saw. 

Cavernous ceilings above high walls, colorful inset stained glass windows shining amazing colors down to the empty room.

After the mess they had seen in every previous hall, it was almost shocking to see none of it now.

Not so much as a single coin littered the floor leading up to the pedestal. 

A pedestal on which a dragon sat.

Smaller than El’s form, horns curving straight back, and wings delicate and transparent, she hardly looked anything like him, but she was a dragon all the same.

Light blue scales covered her frame, but gold had begun to creep along her skin like moss over old wood.

A familiar necklace hanging around her throat.

It could be as simple as theft. That the dragon saw the trinket and took it for herself, but El wasn’t in the practice of fooling himself.

The dragon’s ruby red eyes narrowed at the two of them, but her mouth split into a delighted grin. 

Head thrown back in a mocking gesture, Mia laughs, loud and cruel.  _ All this time!  _ She sneers,  _ All this time, and you’re just as slow! Just as weak. Oh, don’t worry,  _ dear brother,  _ you can go ahead and catch on up to me!  _

Magic spews forth, crowding around Erik and pushing El away.

Erik isn’t screaming.

He isn’t crying for help.

He isn’t fighting back.

There’s a terrible ripping sound, one last burst of magic, and then, as the spell dissipates, where Erik had been standing, there’s another blue dragon.

Smaller than El’s form, but bigger than Mia’s. 

Ice blue scales, without any of the gold that had overtaken his sister’s. Lighter blue, nearly white under his chin and on his stomach.

Silver horns pointing up, and deep, midnight-blue fur that grew along the ridge of his back.

Aside from the name that they shared, his form was entirely different from El’s.

But all the same-

The name they shared.

Dragonspawn. 

_ Do you remember the trade you made, Erik? Do you remember what you gave up?  _ Mia stalked down from her throne, unsteady on her four legs, but still not a force to be underestimated. 

More laughter, fake and forced as it was.  _ Of course you don’t. You always were willing to give up anything… But I’ve made my own trade, now.  _ A wing stretched out to indicate the palace she stood in, and the creature she had become.  _ What do you think? Turns out we’re  _ much  _ more valuable than the chief thought. I guess we never did know our parents, huh?  _

Hidden so very very deep in a lineage they do not know, but there all the same, was dragon’s blood. 

Stronger now from the forced change, but still not at full strength, Erik struggles up onto four legs, but they hardly take his weight.

A cold mist clouds from his breath rather than a fire’s smoke. 

The tiny little mote that had been their reforging bond feels significantly stronger. 

At once, El can now hear them both stronger than ever.

It wasn’t what they once shared, but it was more than he’d hoped to ever have back.

_ Whatever you traded to Mordegon, _ El took on his own dragon form, and towered over the younger whelp. She didn’t shrink back, but her eyes showed her uncertainty.  _ It wasn’t worth it.  _ The Orbs he’d retrieved so far… Loyal little soldiers for the Dark One, but Mordegon offered them none of his own loyalty. If they were cut down, they would be replaced. Risk, but aside from the power of the Orb, no reward.

But Mia couldn’t see that from where she stood.  _ It couldn’t have been a better deal!  _ She cried out,  _ What I gave him wasn’t important. He saved me, after  _ years  _ trapped in that golden shell! Because of this deal, I wasn’t ever alone!  _ Mia’s head swung around to stare down Erik, and her voice only grew louder.  _ He came to me in my dreams, and I know he did to yours, too! I saw you! Every single time, I saw you! Further and further away, traveling the world while I rotted in that cave! It was your fault! All of it, the necklace, the Vikings! All your stupid little  _ trades _!  _

Over and over again, even through Mia’s tirade, Erik apologizes over and over, tries to explain he doesn’t remember, but Mia doesn’t care.

Memories or not, she’s about to have her revenge.

El doesn’t want to fight her, he came to fix her, to bring her back, but she doesn’t want to listen yelling over the words El is trying to say, trying to explain all that happened. 

_ Please!  _ El begs, trying to catch her attention over the growing red glow, over the further creeping gold, but in a rush, she attacks, and El isn’t left with a choice.

El doesn’t want to fight her, doesn’t want to risk hurting her, but it’s  _ Erik  _ at stake. 

And in the long run… El knows that Erik comes above everyone else.

Even the people he loves.

_ Get away!  _ El calls, one last warning, but it isn’t heeded.

El would try to go easy.

And she’s such a smaller dragon, it isn’t like her attacks would be too tough.

But he’d forgotten one thing.

The sabercats that had been docile to this point suddenly changed, taking on more life than they’d had before. 

Lips curled back over sharpened fangs, golden claws just as deadly as his own-

But so much harder to fight.

His claws don’t make so much as a mark on their flesh, and his fire, should he try it, would only make the situation more dire for himself.

Heating the metal of their flesh until molten.

Before he even knows it, they’ve got him cornered and Mia is headed for Erik.

And Erik-

Head to the floor, he waits for death.

In order to atone for what he did. 

Given in entirely. 

Mia stops.

On her own.

Something El cannot hear- something he cannot see that changes her mind.

El in his tracks, the Sabercats as well, the orders from their master grinding to a screeching halt, as Mia realizes just moments too late that she doesn’t actually want this.

Gold is creeping further along her scales, and from the ground and onto Erik.

He doesn’t remember his sister, aside from what he’s seen, and yet he’s still willing to freeze, to die.

One last phrase echo’s inside El’s mind.

_ I’m sorry. _

And a bright golden light engulfs everything.

_ “No!”  _ El screams, the single word echoing not only in his mind, but in the castle as well. 

Magic flooded the room, and for an instant, everything is solid gold.

Of his own design. 

El stares in a daze as he realizes what he’d done, unsure of how, unsure of why as the mark of light glows.

Until cracks begin to form all around, like the splintering of shattered glass.

Gold fading to dust, and leaving only snow, three dragons, and the victims of the fever.

The claw marks on his legs sting from the cold, and in the sudden blizzard, he can hardly hold on.

Red eyes in the snow, terrified but alive.

**~~**

Through the screen of falling snow, Rab can see blue. Blue like a clear summer sky, blue like the eyes of his late wife, of his lost daughter, and completely out of place in this frozen wasteland. 

“Erik!” Rab calls through the blizzard, “Elwood!” If Rab had lost those two in all this fuss… He didn’t know what he would do. 

He never should have said what he said. To lose  _ any single one  _ of their companions would be too much. 

He should’ve comforted El after Octogonia. He should’ve been the grandfather he liked to see himself as. He shouldn’t be another unkind face when Elwood needed every last friend he could get. He should have-

A voice carries through the snow, and the splotch of blue grows detail.

Detail that Rab could hardly believe. “Over here! Please,  _ help!” _

Sat on the ground amidst piles upon piles of golden treasure, surrounded by the slowly waking bodies of all the missing Sniflheimers, were three dragons. 

One gold, and two sky-blue.  _ Please!  _ Begs the larger of the two blue dragons, wings spread out awkwardly to cover the two that lay before it. For the first time, Rab noticed that the voice carried an odd cadence not due to the storm, but from the fact it was echoing inside his head.  _ They won’t wake up.  _


	18. Guardian Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scales so lightly blue they were nearly white, but iridescent where the light caught them. Midnight blue fur grew along his spine, but if El looked closely, he could see sharp spikes hidden in the locks.

El had been suffering nightmares more nights than he cared to count, these past months. 

Seeing horror after horror replayed in his mind.

The Church that Queen Marina had showed him.

Erik landing hard on the sands and not getting back up.

Rab wasting away, and Jade trapped inside Octogonia. 

Sylvando losing all hope before anyone could snap them back to their senses.

Hendrik succumbing to the monster attacks…

Always the same.

Night after night. 

Though, he had yet to see this. He had yet to see either of the twins in his night terrors.

“You were supposed to stop this.”

El whips around at Veronica’s voice, just to see her standing in the dark. 

She’s whole, unchanged and uninjured, standing proud at her half-pint height, hands on her hips and staring sadly at him. “I tried.” He didn’t try to defend himself or argue.

He deserved whatever it was she had to say.

But, to his surprise, she isn’t angry. “I know.” She says. “It isn’t your fault. We just weren’t ready.”

The splitting of a log in fire brought El out from sleep, to the visage of ice blue scales and wings as translucent as a dragonfly’s. 

In an instant, it all came rushing back. 

But… Erik seemed oddly calm.

As if his new form wasn’t bothering him at all. 

Or, he just had long enough to move past his own shock. 

It was so, so familiar to hear Erik’s voice in his head, but the added sounds of the language El was born knowing, and that no one else understood, added a fresh layer of pain to the sound.

The bell-like tones in his mind were carefully flat, hiding grief and terror alike.

The voice hid his feelings, but the bond shared them all. 

_ How are you feeling?  _ Erik asked, moving awkwardly to uncurl his dragon body from around El’s.  _ Are you hurting anywhere? _

Not hurting, exactly. Mostly, El only found himself to be stiff from sleeping on the floor.

There weren’t exactly any dragon-sized beds laying around the Sniflheim castle, though so it wasn’t as if El had any reason to complain. 

_ I’m fine.  _ El assured the other dragon, trying his hardest to push away the sense of unease he got while meeting Erik’s eyes.

Still red.

But…

El hadn’t much time to spare when the transformation initially took place, and now…

Erik’s form was significantly smaller than El’s, longer but shorter and much thinner, built for agility rather than strength. 

Scales so lightly blue they were nearly white, but iridescent where the light caught them. Midnight blue fur grew along his spine, but if El looked closely, he could see sharp spikes hidden in the locks.  _ I’m fine.  _ El repeated,  _ What about you? What happened to Mia?  _

Everything towards the end of their fight is foggy at best, the strain and the cold having taken over. 

Erik does his best to explain, but the reason for Mia’s final decision to show him mercy was just as lost to him. 

Right before she could deliver a blow, as though looking into a mirror, he saw from Mia’s eyes himself reaching out to save her, all that time ago when she was first petrified. 

That’s what she saw that brought her back to common sense, what broke the spell the orb had put her under.

_ And now… _ Erik heaves out a sigh.  _ I can take you to her. But first, teach me how to shift?  _

Teaching a skill that had been nothing more than a simple instinct took time, but with enough effort, El had his keeper… his  _ dragon,  _ back to his regular form.

Or, what regular must be, now. 

El tries not to think about it too hard as he ties the laces of one of his spare shirts above Erik’s wings.

Erik spared a moment to glance in the mirror. Two horns curved behind him, ears that ended in a point. Wings not quite as large as El’s but that still should be able to take Erik’s weight…

And a tail. Long and thin, with a tuft of that midnight fur at the end, in place of the spine that El had.

All these things combined…

Made for a terrible change.

“I could carry you?” El tried to offer, but Erik stubbornly refused as again he made a solid effort to push away from the wall, just to have to grasp it again to remain upright. The weight of the three new appendages did nothing to improve Erik’s center of balance. 

One more near-miss though, and Erik at the very least accepted El’s shoulder to lean on. 

It would take time, but he would adapt to this new change. Until then, El would be here to lend a hand.

After all, he knew better than anyone what it was to deal with these things. 

Slowly, the two of them make it through the halls of the castle. Only stopped once by Rab, who checks them both over.

Clearly thankful that they are both well, if the sudden sag of his shoulders is anything to go by. But he sees just how much Erik is leaning into El. “Perhaps you should go back and get some more rest, eh? It might be best if you stayed here in the palace, any how. Just until you’re on your feet.”

Erik’s tail lashes in anger, the appendage hardly under his control, still only on the edges of his awareness.

“I’m  _ fine!” Erik bites out _ , and with a flash of anger pushes away from El’s assistance to stand on his own, and as lop-sided as he is, still manages to stalk ahead of them both.

El notices, but wisely decides not to point out the new lisp his forked tongue had given him.

El tries to rush to follow, but Rab stops him with a hand on his arm. 

“Try to talk some sense into the boy, would you? He’s in no fit state to be fighting.”

He makes no promises. “Erik can do what he wants.” 

Rab takes in a deep breath, and lets it out slowly. Sounding so entirely exhausted that El could hardly stand it.“I know it’s not my place to say, and I know that you don’t see me or Jade quite in the same way that we see you, but… I understand what Erik is to you, and…” Rab trailed off for a moment, dragging a hand down his face. “You’re both family, is what I’m trying to say.”

Rab takes a moment to apologize, for everything. 

“I thought we’d lost you,” he admits quietly. “The both of you. Everything I’ve done, as misguided as I’ve been, I just want what’s best for the both of you. I just want my family safe and sound.”

Shame nearly burns a hole through El’s gut. 

No matter what Rab had said in the past. No matter what was said in Octogonia… 

He was just as terrified as the rest of them. 

Rab asks El to pass on that little tidbit, but El refuses, saying that it would be better for Rab to tell Erik himself.

But…

“I haven’t been fair to you.” El apologizes in turn. “I’ve been distant from you and Jade, and… I’m sorry.” 

El apologizes for being intentionally distant, and says that he’s trying to make an effort to see Rab as a grandfather and not just as a stranger. 

It’s forced, but he understands.

It’s the state of the world. If they had been successful, and Yggdrasil hadn’t fallen…

Well.

It’s best not to think about impossible scenarios. 

He gives El directions to find where Erik went, and when he arrives, it’s better than he had imagined, but worse than he could have thought.

Perhaps Rab was right.

Erik needed to stay. 

Leaning heavily against the doorframe, for the first time, El took a moment to simply stare.

The changes were more than El could easily comprehend. 

He was wearing one of El’s shirts. Far too big on him, the rolled up sleeves still falling below his wrists, and the hem falling lower than his hips.

But for now, that was his only option. 

He didn’t have anything of his own that left room for wings, and the laces around the tail of his borrowed trousers weren’t any better, tied as tightly as they could be, and still hanging off him.

El wasn’t the best at mending clothes, but he could surely have something more suited to Erik’s build before long. 

But that wasn’t important at the moment. 

Mia didn’t remember.

Even her own name lost to the same blank that plagued her brother.

He didn’t want to make the offer, but it would be selfish of him not to give Erik the freedom to choose. “You can stay here with her, if you want.” He deserved the chance to relearn who his sister was, just as she deserved to know her brother. But he knew that his reluctance was clear in each line of tension. 

“Why would I stay?” Erik asked, brows furrowed in confusion. 

There were more reasons than El wanted to list. All the sudden changes, the way even his own body had morphed, everything newly unfamiliar for the second time in the small space that he could remember. “Do you… not want me to come?”

“No, it’s not that.” El said, turning his eyes back to where Kyrstalinda was speaking quietly to Mia. Carefully helping her out of the bed and onto her feet, where she wobbled.

He saw Erik jerk in place before she was steadied. “I just thought… Maybe you’d prefer to stay here. With them.” 

Maybe it was a hypocritical thought, since El had tried so hard to ignore the family he had found at first… But he couldn’t imagine Erik in this state choosing to remain with him, when he clearly already cared for Mia so much.

“Of course I want to. I want to know Mia, and see the place I grew up in...” Erik tried to shrug, and nearly fell to the floor as his wings shifted. Transparent as they may be, they weighed more than Erik was prepared for.

Of course he wanted to, but El was more concerned if he would be  _ able  _ to. 

Though it took more control than El realized he had, he didn’t reach out to steady him. 

Erik needed to learn on his own. He needed the simple freedom to take care of himself-

Erik cursed and pressed the heel of his hand over his eyes. “I understand.” He said through clenched teeth. “I do. I’ll be deadweight while I figure all  _ this,”  _ he gestured to the wings, “out. But… Please, El. I’m with you for a reason, and I need to see this out with you. Our journey is more important.”

El feels hesitant to allow him to come, but again.

It’s Erik’s choice to make. 

Erik is waved over to talk to Mia, and he doesn’t hesitate in the slightest to join her by the grand windows. 

He isn’t shy in any sense as he smiles at the sister he scarcely knows, and allows her to say and ask whatever crosses her mind.

He’d already been able to speak with her a few times while El remained asleep, being the one she trusted the most right from the start.

It may as well just be coincidence, but El dares to hope that it’s something of her past that remains with her, buried deep down inside. 

As he speaks to her, El turns away. It’s not his place to listen in, and Krystalinda feels the same way, leaving the two to speak with El instead. 

“She’ll be safe with me.” Krystalinda doesn’t take her eyes off the younger pair of dragons as she speaks, an odd sort of fondness to the crinkle around her eye. “Both of them, if the boy chooses to stay.”

“He’s already decided not to.” El explains, but doesn’t do anything further to dissuade her from making the offer. Though… He has trouble believing she is doing this purely out of the good of her frozen heart. “Why are you so willing to help them?” Blunt and to the point. He’s no longer any patience to spare for riddles and rhymes. 

“Northern clans of dragons were quite varied.” She began, seemingly an unrelated answer, but El waited anyway. “But transparent wings, and the pattern of fur? Your bluebird there has a very familiar set of features.” The smile she wore was tinged with grief. “I never mothered any whelps myself, but my bondmate had. They look so familiar… It almost hurts. Besides,” she continues on before El has a chance to respond to her assumption, “There aren’t very many of us left. We need to be here for each other.”

Not many of them left. As far as El knew, four of the five left in the world were in this room, and two of those four were not even naturally this way. “Right.” El forced out around his discomfort, torn somewhere between grief, and some nameless emotion that tugged painfully at his heart as he watched Erik and Mia speak.

Awkward as it was, as  _ wrong  _ as the reunion had been, he should be happy, shouldn’t he?

But… He couldn’t be.

Not when it was his own fault it had turned out this way. 

El leaves Erik to spend time with his sister, and decides to venture into town for a bit. 

He needs to be busy. With  _ anything,  _ lest he fall back into listlessness, or worse yet, bloody his hands with the filth of the Vikings.

Their retribution would come in time.

Whenever Erik would be well enough to handle it. 

Instead… He’ll be needing some supplies to modify Erik’s clothing, and he doesn’t have the time to waste if he is going to be joining them. 

But-

A touch of bright green against the white and blue of Sniflheim catches his eye as he pockets a spool of green thread and folds a length of fabric over his arm.

“Serena!” El calls out, the annoyed glances of those around him hardly even reaching his attention. If she was here, then surely Veronica wasn’t far.

She turned on her heel at the sound of his voice, and El stopped in his tracks.

She’d changed, and hardly in the same way that Jade or Sylvando had. 

Her hair had been cut short, the ends curling in, and there was a weight of grief visibly pushing her towards the earth.

And it hardly took a genius to figure out what she had lost, if the staff strapped to her back was anything to go by.

His fingers suddenly numb, El doesn’t notice the spools of thread fall to the snow.

She smiled at him, but her brightness had been dimmed.

El doesn’t know which one of them had moved first, but the next thing he knew he had Serena squeezing the life from him, blathering about how she knew he was okay. How she knew that they all just had to be okay. 

El knows he likely doesn’t make any more sense. Knows that they’re making a scene, but can’t quite bring himself to care. After everything else- after  _ everyone  _ else, finding Serena unharmed and entirely herself… It was a weight off his shoulders.

It takes what feels like hours, but eventually she calms down enough to speak coherently, wiping tears from her face.

It takes a few stops and starts, words still failing her before she manages to question El. 

“Goodness, listen to be blather on… I’m just so happy to see you well. Or,” her smile turns a little strained. “Aside from… I’m sorry.”

“I’m fine.” El tries to assure her, standing up from the ground and offering her a hand up. “I lost the horn a while ago. It doesn’t hurt anymore.” He didn’t bother mentioning his red eyes.

Surely she’d learn about that soon enough. 

“I’m still sorry.” Serena accepted his help up, and he was relieved to see her walk steadily. 

Just one of his friends in good health… It was more than he’d dared to ask for. “It shouldn’t be long before it grows back.”

“It’ll grow back?” El hadn’t even considered the possibility. Hadn’t a moment to spare to even truly grasp what he’d lost.

But the uneven weight on his head… The possibility that it could go back to normal...

“It  _ should,”  _ Serena answered, with just a tad of hesitation. “I don’t want to say anything for sure, but I would be surprised if it didn’t.”

The town moved around them. It buzzed with activity, people finally feeling safe to be out together again, some finally free from the gold fever. Noise of their chatter rose and fell, but the sounds hardly touched the two walking back towards the castle. 

They weren’t celebrating.

They hardly had anything to be cheerful for, despite the reunion. 

Serena was unaware of so many happenings across their land, and El didn’t bother sparing any of the grim details.

“I’m sorry to be asking so many questions. I was stuck in Arboria for so long. We hadn’t any way to know how the rest of Erdrea had fared with Yggdrasil’s Fall.” She paused for just a moment. “And everyone else? Are they all truly well?

“Everyone is fine. Sylvando and Jade were changed by the curse, and… And so was Erik. He’s lost a lot.” El hated speaking of Erik as if losing his memories had changed him beyond recognition, but some days it still felt that way. Some days their bond, thin as spider silk but hardly as strong, only served to make him feel horrible. “He can’t remember anything past these last few months.” “I don’t know if you could help, but-”

“I’ll try whatever I can.” It was a simple promise, but he knew she meant it. Anything in her power, anything in any power she could gain, she would try.

The rest of their walk is silent. So much to say, and so little that they knew how. 

Past the castle doors, they are both immediately bombarded by their companions.

El stands off to the side as reintroductions are made, trying to fend off the nagging feeling of unease to simply be thankful that he had chanced upon her at all.

“It’s ever so nice to see you all again.” Serena smiled, nearly in tears from the relief of finding them all again. 

Or possibly something from something else. 

The smile twisted as the tears spilled over. “I’m sorry-“ Serena tried to apologize, to wipe them away, but more only came to replace them. 

“Darling,” Sylvando tried to reach out to her, but Jade was faster. 

Serena didn’t fight the contact as Jade pulled her into a hug, and instead only broke down further. 

She didn’t ask what was wrong, or offer any comforting words, but it seemed that the contact was all that Serena needed. Slowly, she regained control, and when Jade let go, her eyes were puffy, and her face tear-tracked, but she was calmer.

“I can’t believe it’s actually you.” Jade said over her sniffling, “Where have you been?”

“Arboria.” She answered in a single word. “After that… Awful day, I woke up inside my home. In my own bed. With-” Her voice cracked and she had to stop a moment, lest she began sobbing again. “Oh dear, listen to me go on. Again she wiped at her eyes. “There isn’t any easy way to tell you all this, it’s just- Oh, I’m so happy you’re all alright!”

Alright. As if the obvious changes were invisible to her eyes. 

“It’s- Veronica.” Serena said, holding her hands folded against her chest. 

At once, El’s stomach dropped. He’d had a terrible feeling, seeing her in the city.

Seeing that staff strapped to her back.

But he still wasn’t prepared to hear the truth,

“I woke alone.” Serena picked back up, “In my own bed, in the room we used to share. Her staff in my arms but-“ She didn’t fight the tears this time. “But without her.”

They all listen without interruption as she explains what happened.

A memory, sent to her not unlike a dream. Veronica giving every last scrap of her power to scatter them across Erdrea in blind hope they could find each other again.

Fulfilling her duty to protect the Luminary in her last moments. 

“I had thought it was a miracle we had all survived the fall… Now, though…”

Sylvando had said time and time again that they had a guardian angel watching over them. Keeping them all safe through Yggdrasil’s Fall.

How right they had been.

El can hear the reactions of his friends around him, but they don’t quite make it past his ears.

He doesn’t know what to feel.

Grief, surely. Anger at King Carnelian for his weakness, his possession. At those who blindly followed his word of the Luminary’s wickedness. Anger at Mordegon, at the heart of this disaster.

At Yggdrasil Herself, for sending only him to save the entirety of Erdrea from his threat.

But…

He doesn’t feel any of that.

A wall of static between his mind and what he knows he should feel. 

It was his own fault.

Not anyone else’s. 

The blame of Veronica’s death was his own to shoulder.

No matter what the girl in the red dress said in his dreams.

“She gave her life to save us.” Serena finished her explanation, eyes stuck to the floor, and her hand toying with the ends of her shorn hair. 

They spend the day in a haze of shock and grief at the news of Veronica’s passing.

It hardly seems possibly that the young spitfire mage  _ could  _ die at all, but…

If there was anything that could take her down, it would be the end of the world.

At least… that’s what Serena says.

He thinks that’s her name? But Erik isn’t entirely sure. The girl in green that seems only moments from tears at any given time. The one who holds to El’s arm as if she’s afraid he’ll disappear.

The girl who sat and healed him to the best of her ability…

And the girl that he still somehow finds himself feeling jealous towards, despite  _ knowing  _ there wasn’t any good reason for it.

Or maybe…

Days pass as they wait for Erik to recover.

As they give Serena a place to rest away from the home she knew, and the home that had now placed all their hope of fixing the Luminary’s failure on her exhausted shoulders. 

El was the one of their group that was kindest with him. The most patient.

Through some paradoxical nature… The most protective of him, and yet the one who believed in his own strength the most. Who allowed him the most autonomy. 

Perhaps that was the reason he’d begun to feel so close, despite the chasm he knew separated the way El knew him, and the way that El saw him now.

Though, the time they’d allowed themselves to grieve, the time they had set aside to heal and recover…

That chasm was slowly becoming more and more manageable.

Slowly, Erik could almost see a way to bridge it.

It was slow going… or about as slow as Erik could manage, with their departure for Arboria growing closer by the day. 

But slowly… 

One way or another, Erik was forcing himself back into the space he’d once had by El’s side. 

El still seemed tense about the changes, unsure of how to react, but slowly enough he was less afraid that he was taking advantage of Erik’s state, and more understanding that  _ yes,  _ this was what Erik wanted. 

What Erik’s normal was now… He didn’t pretend to believe it was what his normal once was. 

Though… If what little he had seen from the root, and what El had to tell him was anything at all to go by, his  _ ‘normal’  _ beforehand wasn’t quite what once would call normal, either. 

But that was fine. 

Though his mood swung easily between apathy and grief for the memories he had lost, he was fine living this way. 

He was warm, he was safe. His sister was healing. He had a family. Friends, even.

Even… Even if those friends were just as neck-deep in grief as he was, with their own loss. 

He had someone who shared his bed, who slept through the morning light and only reluctantly rose from the tangled nest of sheets and pillows and limbs when the door was all but burst down by one person or another, demanding that they finally wake up and get about their day. 

“Really, honey?” Sylvando sighed from where they leaned in the doorway, voice just high enough to overtake the low frustrated groan from the golden-scaled dragon. 

“You used to be the one in charge of getting him up on time.” They said with a smile to Erik, “It was much easier then, just a pull on his tail, or dragging him by the horns on particularly cold mornings, and we were all set to go.” They spoke just as cheerfully as Erik was used to, but even he saw the change. There was strain painfully obvious both their tone and smile, as if it was taking every last scrap of their control to keep up the happy act.

None of them knew how to react.

It was as though they simply couldn’t comprehend Veronica’s passing.

Erik was the one left to his usual self. The one of their group mostly untouched by the tragedy. Somehow though, he felt as if he was the one that needed to be strong now. 

To be a pillar while the others broke down.

Though he hardly knew how. 

Sylvando leaves with a few more words to him, and Erik is left to drag the other dragon from the bed.

It was strange, to feel like an outsider to their grief.

But… Keeping El on track was one thing he could at least try to do.

“Is it any better this morning?” El asked, finally sitting upright, but still curled underneath the blankets.

Erik didn’t know why they still had them on the bed at all. Neither one of them produced heat enough to properly use them, but… Erik supposed the weight of them was comforting on its own. 

“A little.” Erik answered, standing from the bed, and stretching out one wing, taking careful notice of his surroundings.

He’d already knocked down enough decorations to be wary of doing so again. 

The muscle around the spine and membrane still ached from the brand-new strain, but it had dulled to nothing more than background noise rather than the forefront pain it had been the previous day. “Doesn’t hurt as much, now.”

It isn’t perfect, but it’s enough.

It has to be. 

They’ve run out of time to spare. It’s time to move on. 

Slowly, El moved past his grogginess and the both of them were able to go about their morning in comfortable silence.

Erik did still wish that El spoke more, but he didn’t complain.

Not when El stopped his own packing to help Erik when he struggled with the new way his tunic worked.

“Here,” El took the laces in his own hands to tie, “Let me.”

It wasn’t too different from how it once was, but Erik still felt odd about the way his back was exposed, even with the hood still draping down over his wings. Even with the way the laces on the front were loose. He didn’t know why  _ that  _ wasn’t any bother… But still, if it wasn’t a problem, he wasn’t going to question it. 

“I’m used to looking like this, now.” Erik said, even if that wasn’t quite the truth. He was still caught off-guard whenever he caught his reflection. Still startled to see his own wings in the corner of his vision. But at the very least… “I’m not off balance anymore. I can fight with you, I won’t be a burden.”

“You’re not a burden.” El responded, nearly on instinct. “But, I nearly forgot…” El trailed off, digging through his bag until he found his prize. “I’ve had this for ages now. But there hasn’t been a good time.”

Erik isn’t quite sure how to accept the gift — but finds that the handle fits perfectly into his grip, that somewhere unconscious, he knows exactly how to wield it. “Thank you.” Erik stares down at the carefully crafted blade, the steel enchanted and shaped to look like it was made from glass. Or, perhaps, ice. 

“I didn’t make it. It’s from an old friend of yours. Doesn’t mean much now, but I was supposed to tell you that Derk is still alive and kicking.”

The name didn’t mean anything.

But the message, and the knife, meant more than Erik could articulate. 

There was more than just this.

~~

Arboria sat so close to the epicenter of the disaster, El hadn’t dared to think of how much it surely had suffered from Her fall, and seeing it only drove home what little he had known, and all the worst fears he could have imagined.

Coming here… If it wasn’t necessary that they did, he would’ve called the visit a mistake. 

Rubble burned endlessly around the perimeter of town, and many buildings had been entirely lost to the fires and falling debris. 

El hadn’t cared much for Arboria during his first visit…

But he couldn’t have ever imagined…

As they move through the town, he notices small things from before. 

The temple is half-gone.

The building he and Erik had taken refuge behind, gone.

The nursery…

_ Gone.  _

“There’s only one of the whelps left.” Serena explained, catching his eyes before staring off at what remained of the simple structure, speaking for no other reason than to fill the empty air. “The mother hadn’t returned, and… Well, I don’t blame her. If she’s still out there at all.”

A horrible feeling settled into El’s stomach as she spoke. There had been an infant, one that bore a dragon’s features. “Serena,” he could hardly dare to ask, but-  _ he had to know.  _ “The child from before-” Had it-

Seeming to know exactly what he was trying to ask, she shook her head.

Of course.

_ Of course.  _

His failure up on Yggdrasil had cost the world so very, very much. Children across Erdrea must have lost their lives in the fall. 

This single newborn shouldn’t have been and more important than the others.

But-

Somehow, it was. 

The infant had seemed like such a beacon of hope, for that minuscule amount of time that he had known them. A creature just like him — a sign that his kind may yet return.

A hope now dashed. 

They don’t get the luxury of wasting time in the once-holy city. 

Seeing all that had been ruined… El couldn’t rest if he wanted to. 

Too much too do.

Too many thoughts.

Too many voices, both real and in his head telling him of all his shortcomings.

It was for the best that they were leaving Arboria as soon as possible.

“It’s not your fault, yanno.” Erik spoke quietly as they walked, the girl lost to the rest of them unknown to him, but still hesitant to break the vigil. He didn’t mourn Veronica as a friend, but as just another life lost to the Fall. 

He didn’t know what ‘the Fall’ meant, in its entirety. He knew of Yggdrasil, he had been told what all had happened… 

El doesn’t quite respond. And Erik only trails behind, feeling stuck again by his lack of memory. Of course that wouldn’t mean anything coming from someone who only had second-hand memories of the event.

But he still meant it.

It wasn’t El’s fault.

No matter what the Arborians thought. 

Erik grit his teeth against a surge of anger. 

He understood grief. He knew that it twisted your mind, made you feel things you didn’t really feel, made you say things you didn’t mean.

The couple who’d lost their newborn didn’t mean the terrible things that they had said.

But the townsfolk could have done  _ something  _ to hold them back. 

They should have.

They should have been kinder. They should’ve been understanding. They should have been and done so many things, but instead-

They did nothing.

Looked down their noses at El as if he was a failure. As if they weren’t still relying on him to restore the world. 

They didn’t stay long. Between Erik and Jade, they’d gathered everything they needed in record time, and dragged El through the temple to where they needed to go next.

He couldn’t handle seeing El’s despair.

The crying baby dragon…

Nothing would silence it crying out for its mother. 

The sound put Erik’s teeth on edge, like nails on chalkboard but so much worse-

He never wanted to step foot in that town again. 

And with any luck, he wouldn’t.

If Serena’s dream about the calamatus flute was to be taken as fact…

If they were trekking up this mountainside for anything more than a flight of fancy… 

But the peak was not as barren as the path leading up to it. 

It was simple stone, old and grown-over with dried out and dying plants, but a monument to  _ something  _ all the same.

Serena held the gilded flute close to her chest for just a mere moment before thrusting it into El’s hands instead. “In my dream… Veronica was playing it. I don’t think I’m meant to summon Cetecea.” 

Though El accepted the flute, it felt awkward and clumsy in his hands.

He’d never so much as held an instrument before, the people of Cobblestone played music on string instruments that his talons would snap. “I don’t know how to play—”

“Just try?” Serena asked, “It truly isn’t so difficult…” 

Hesitantly, El relented.

But as he held the instrument up, he realized that he simply  _ knew  _ how to play it, what notes to string together that made the flute glow a bright gold, and that summoned up a great white-and-gold creature from the mass of clouds below.

None other than what had to be Cetecea.

Though of what little El had begun to expect, it hadn’t been this.

Nearly twice the size of his own dragon form, scales perfectly smooth and shimmering with iridescence, a dragon landed gently upon the monument where they all stood.

It made not a sound as it moved, the mark of light stamped between it’s horns and glowing from it’s pupils.

Though he couldn’t detect anything coming from it.

Alive, but without conscious thought. 

For a moment El faltered. Wondering what need they had of such a creature when he was already one himself…

But… Cetacea would surely be able to carry each of his companions when he could not. 

No time for questions and without anything left to spare, one by one they each climbed atop the unfamiliar dragon.

With Veronica gone, they should all be so much more careful, but the opposite was true.

Caution thrown to the wind in favor of putting an end to what had struck her down.

For just a heartbeat in the corner of his eye, El could swear he’d seen a flash of red. 

Veronica, standing at full height in her true age waving farewell.

Seeing them off, even though she couldn’t follow. 

El blinked, and the phantom visage was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder you can find me on tumblr as puffinpastry and on Twitter @puffinpastry223 for fic updates and fic art!!!


	19. Next Step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But he knew that it wasn’t his victory to claim.   
> He knew that whatever it was that happened in the sands — it wasn’t something to be celebrated.   
> And the spell-  
> Well.  
> Zoom, as Rab identified it, would come in useful, though he couldn’t spare much thought to the how’s and why’s when he was the one being questioned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next few chapters are going to be on the shorter end. I don’t want to retell canon more than necessary.

Of all the things El could have imagined to find so high above the safety of Erdrea…

The Skies Above certainly wasn’t something he felt he ever could have imagined. 

The last thing he’d expected-

Was to find the very place his people used to live.

Perhaps that was what made the little island make El at ease, that something so deeply familiar.

Something nostalgic, though all that remained of the Skies Above was the lonesome little stone.

It felt like it was where he was meant to be.

In the clouds, in the blustering wind that somehow wasn’t cold at all. 

Small dragons, hardly bigger than mice, play in the grass. Scales rainbows of pastels, feathers on their wings and at the tips of their tails. 

Many of them are friendly, bold enough to approach El, and comfortable enough in his presence to climb to his shoulders to nap.

No dragons even resemble these tiny creatures in the world below. 

Native to only the islands above… The same as his people once were. 

Krystalinda has said they’d ruled the skies, but he hadn’t thought much of that past the obvious. 

The Watchers lived alongside the Dragonspawn in the skies. Neighbors, but not quite allies.

They were kind to one another, living side by side on the islands that once dotted the sky, known and visible to every person below, but typically only accessible to said inhabitants.

But when his people began to fall… 

It was no matter if the Watchers wanted to help. If they even  _ could  _ help.

They could only observe. Recording the history, nothing more. 

Unable to step forward and assist the mortal creatures around them, to divert the natural flow of time. 

And now… Even the Watchers were gone. 

A single island remained of the sky-bound archipelago. A single Watcher of the many that once lived. Two naturally-born Dragonspawn. 

All that remained of his ancestral home. 

El didn’t hear Erik approach, and hardly spotted him against the blue of the sky, the single floating island so far above the earth that they were above even the dark clouds that spread across over the land.

Okay. Four Dragonspawn.

He wasn’t quite so alone.

“I almost want to jump.” Erik said, dangling his legs over the edge of the stone, staring down at the menacing light below. 

Though El is more than aware that it isn’t a suicidal urge, feeling the same instinct to fall… He has to dig his claws into the grass to stop himself from reaching out to grab onto Erik, to keep him safe. “Just, let go of the land and fly.”

The air up here is thin, but it’s clean and clear. The wind catches in his wings no matter how tightly he keeps them folded against his back… He knows well what Erik’s feeling. “You don’t know how to fly.” El reminds him instead of voicing his agreement, “Please don’t go trying to teach yourself. I don’t want to have to pluck you from free fall for a third time.”

“You could always teach me.” Erik suggested, only half-serious, sitting just close enough for their arms to brush. He wanted to lay his head on El’s shoulder, take his hand in his own…

But between the tiny creature already stretched along El’s shoulders, and the fear of accidentally hurting El with his horns…

He didn’t know if El would be receptive to the touch at all.

He couldn’t read El. Not anymore.

“I will.” El says easily, having already made the promise more than once. But learning took time, and they were done wasting it. “When we’re back on the ground.”

Erik hadn’t expected any flying lessons thousands and thousands of feet above the earth, and though he knew El wouldn’t have let him fall, he can’t help the short spark of relief.

He wasn’t afraid of heights, exactly.

But there was just something about staring down into the nothingness of clouds and sky…

It turned his stomach.

Erik was hesitant to ask, but… “You said ‘for the third time,’ the first was in Heliodor, you told me that. What was the second?” Every now and then El would slip up. Say or mention something that Erik should remember. A lot of the time, Erik wouldn’t ask for clarification. He’d save away whatever little tidbit El had let go, savoring the little moments where it was forgotten that he wasn’t quite the same as the rest of them.

The little moments where he felt like he really belonged with them. 

“Sniflheim.” El answered without having to stop and think. It didn’t exactly paint a picture for him, but the short explanation of fighting in the sky was more than enough to concern Erik to the frequency of their close calls. 

Without anything else to say, the two lapsed into silence. 

At least, Erik  _ tried  _ to stay quiet, to give El this little moment of rest before they were off again to Gallopolis. “I could swear I’ve seen a place like this before.” Erik confessed with a frustrated sigh, letting his hand fall back to his lap. “I keep getting these… flashes. Just familiarity, nothing more.”

It had started the moment they’d touched ground here for the first time. Something small in the way the temple was built. In the designs sprawling around them.

Something small that only grew further and further the more he saw.

The battleground. 

The gravestones. The stone markers engraved with its history. 

It was important. Something more important than Erik knew to say, but all the memory he could conjure up…

Was the feeling of falling.

“I know the feeling.” El said, bringing his legs back up to solid ground, careful not to dislodge the tiny dragon that had made his shoulders home. “Being here… It almost feels like being home, in some odd way.”

That- that wasn’t quite what Erik meant.

But he accepted El’s offer to help him back up without mentioning it.

There wouldn’t be any point in speaking up if he didn’t know what he was talking about, and he would hate to ruin any feeling of being  _ home  _ for El.

And El hadn’t noticed Erik’s sudden discomfort. There was too much else to focus on at the moment.

It was just as the Watcher said. His story wasn’t over, his  _ people’s  _ story wasn’t over. Last one or not…

El wasn’t the last Dragonspawn. 

His people still lived, as few in number as they were. 

His story wasn’t over. And it wouldn’t be, until he was able to set things right. 

And he knew just where he needed to go, now. 

They have the guiding light

They have the right ore.

They can see Erdwin’s lantern falling from their perch on the Heavens Above. 

It falls ever so slowly… But it falls, all the same.

Their time was limited, and they needed to move.

Gallopolis for the forging hammer, and Hotto to make the new sword of light. 

Just two more stops, and they could put an end to this all.

~~

He’s always seen the tockles. They’ve been a part of his world for as long as he can remember, but he knows they were  _ only  _ a part of his world. 

He’s the only one who can see them. 

His mother dismissed his descriptions of small creatures with long arms and glowing, translucent bodies as a child’s fantasy.

As imaginary friends. As a game he and Gemma played, El searching the town high and low for one that she could really see. 

But as he grew older, he stopped speaking of them.

The creatures were neutral to the world around them, grass and dirt undisturbed beneath their tiny feet, speaking only to him from time to time, when the odd one or two allowed him to pick them up. But even that he eventually grew out of. 

They became simple background noise.

Something he knew was there, but something he never took any active notice of. 

Except…

This one was  _ different.  _

Most of the tockles were identical in every single way. The same size, the same weight… After leaving Cobblestone he did see the odd colored one from time to time, and once even one that had an extra foot or two in height, but even they still remained docile and silent.

This new tockle was nothing like what he had seen before. 

“Erdwin’s Lantern, eh?” He heard Rab speak, heard those around him reply, but couldn’t focus. 

It was doing nothing unusual, and yet it couldn’t have seemed more sinister. 

Glowing yellow eyes, and dark color like a burning star in it’s stomach.

But still… No one else seemed to notice it as it came to a stop before them all, jittering and twitching as if electrocuted. 

“...But now I’m not so sure. I mean, if the Lord of Shadow’s rise to power caused the lantern to descend…”

The little creature continued it’s ambling pace, and nearly without any conscious decision, El took a step to follow.

“Laddie?” Rab’s voice pulled El back to reality, “Are you alright? What are you looking at?”

El turned back to Rab for just a second, “I-” Perhaps he should share what he was seeing. After all, stranger things had happened even in the last few days… They would perhaps be more inclined to believe him about the strange little creatures, but when El glanced back to where the odd tockle was, it had vanished. “Nothing.” El said with a sinking feeling of dread. 

They came here for a reason. 

Get the hammer first.

He could explain about the tockles another time. “It’s nothing. I’m sorry.”

El paid little mind to the discussions and theories around him as they made their way through the empty city, the world cast in reds underneath the falling star. 

He hardly recognized it…

But, to be fair, his last visit wasn’t a memory he looked upon fondly. 

He only  _ just  _ manages to notice when his friends are moving again, heading towards the palace, but thankfully, Erik is the only one who noticed him nearly stumble in an effort to stay caught up, taking El’s hand in his own to stop him. “Hey, you really alright?”

It was starting to hurt less.

Steadily, Erik was becoming himself again.

Talons that had been filed down dull scraped over the back of El’s hand.

He could stop, just for a moment.

If it was for Erik, no one would bat an eye.

“I am.” El said, hoping that it would be enough to turn those searching red eyes away from him. “It’s just- there’s…” El trails off, his free hand scratching at the back of his neck, a nervous habit he wasn’t sure when he’d picked up from Erik. “I’ll explain it to everyone, soon. I promise.”

Erik accepts his excuse without a second thought, trusting him immediately, and laces their fingers together for the rest of the walk. 

That’s one thing that hasn’t changed.

One thing El hoped wouldn’t ever change. 

And one other thing-

If Erik had trouble tolerating the heat of the desert before, he was truly struggling with it now. 

The second they arrived in the desert he’d begun suffering from the heat. Even as the rest of the world suffered an endless winter, Gallopolis still burned under the light and heat of the falling star.

El wasn’t sure what he could do to help alleviate the heat stress, but Erik had helped him through the cold so many times…

It was the least he could do to try.

The palace in sight, El steeled himself, and crossed the threshold.

Just here for the hammer. 

They wouldn’t have to stay long.

~~

But a simple itinerary or not, simple, straightforward,  _ easy  _ goal or not, it never quite seemed to matter.

No matter where on, above, or below Erdrea they traveled, there was always something waiting for them in the shadows. 

Or, something right above their heads.

_ THINGS PAST, RETURN TO ME! _

Everything happened too fast for El to process. 

The tockle that had been trailing them all day raised it’s arms and it’s voice raised to a screech, a crash far too loud to be thunder crashed overhead, the dark shadow raised it’s twisted blade, and it was all El could do to call out a warning.

But it was too little, too late. “The tockle!” He tried to yell over the whipping winds, but El could hardly even hear himself.  _ “Run!” _

No one moved.

Though, it had been a pointless thing to command, There wasn’t anywhere to run.

The Sultan had said it himself, his people would not flee Gallopolis.

Not one person was evacuating. The star would send his fine city to ruin, and the effects of the impact would be felt from Gondolia to Hotto.

They would rather die in their beds than die running. 

But El couldn’t afford to die. The world couldn’t lose him, and by extension…

They had left Jade and Serena back in the palace.

But Hendrik, Sylvando, Rab, and Erik were still with him.

All of them, right in harm's way.

_ El!  _ Erik’s voice in his head, and blue in the corner of his eye, his hair whipping around in the wind, looking helplessly towards El, right in the center of the ruin, helpless to do anything.

Something.

There had to be  _ something- _

A burst of magic from somewhere deep inside, stronger than anything he’d ever cast before, and yet it felt as though it took not a single scrap of energy to cast. 

As if again and again, no matter how many times the spell was uttered, it wouldn’t leaves him drained.

Golden light took away his vision, and the wind ripping around them faded.

They were in the palace. 

Piled safely on the balcony, the sky above their heads a pure blue. 

He’d taken everyone in the vicinity.

The cowardly scholar at the gate, the guards. Prince Faris-

And the tockle.

Everyone moves around their group in a blur, checking for injuries, exclaiming over what happened, cheering and thanking him for saving their lives. For destroying the star and sparing the city.

But he knew that it wasn’t his victory to claim. 

He knew that whatever it was that happened in the sands — it wasn’t something to be celebrated. 

And the spell-

Well.

Zoom, as Rab identified it, would come in useful, though he couldn’t spare much thought to the how’s and why’s when  _ he  _ was the one being questioned.

The sky is clear. Gallopolis was safe. The hammer in their possession, a gift happily given by the indebted sultan.

But that wasn’t what mattered right now.

“‘Tockle’.” Erik repeated what he had managed to hear in the sands. “You said something about a tockle. What- what is that?”

Erik had turned to the rest of their group, looking from face to face for any sort of a reaction, for any shred of recognition, but looked back to El when he found none. “You said you’d explain what was wrong this morning. Was it about the tockle? Did you know that was going to happen?”

It had all but slipped El’s mind that he owed Erik an explanation, the simple promise lost in the day’s events, his discomfort forgotten the moment they’d stepped foot into the palace and met with the sultan and his son **,** who had taken one look at Erik, recognized him, and became  _ far, far  _ too friendly with thanking him for being the catalyst to his change in behavior. 

It was only the clear discomfort on Erik’s face that kept El from getting jealous, but in an effort to free Erik from Faris’s grip, he had become a victim of it himself, receiving an apology so sincere and emotional it nearly felt like an act. 

Trekking through the desert… Finding Faris arguing against a cowardly scholar-

There were no excuses to be made.

He needed to come clean. 

At first, he couldn’t quite manage to look up from the tiled floor of the inn room they had all piled into for his explanation. 

It was the truth, these people all his family, and yet somehow it nearly felt shameful.

Surely they’d believe him?

“I don’t know if it did it or not,” El began to wind his explanation to a close, eyes glued on the tockle. Colored like the clouds of menace around Mordegon’s fortress, and starting a heavy feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. “But…” His eyes flicked away from where he had been staring off before. “But this one is completely different. From the way it looks, to the way it acts… I thought it was…  _ Doing something,  _ to Erdwin’s lantern.”

Erik couldn’t see the creature that El had described to them all, and frankly, he was  _ thankful  _ for that fact.

A being that stood no higher than his knee, but with soulless black eyes and a vertical gaping maw. Long arms that stretched and constricted at will, all over the land, just… Watching?

He could’ve done without the image it summoned up. Surely, it would fuel his nightmares for days to come. 

With very little skepticism and without any questions, one by one, they all accept what he says as fact.

It’s not that they don’t have any questions, or that there were no doubts in the backs of their minds, but more so that they simply don’t care. 

“Yer the Luminary,” Rab shrugged, too exhausted by the day to put up any kind of fight. “If you say there are little cotton-creatures milling about the world, then I believe you. But the Star is gone now, and we have more important things to worry about now.”

“But, grandpa-”

“No ‘buts’.” Rab cut him off with a single raised hand, and pushed himself slowly from where he’d taken his seat on the bed.

Erik winced at the pop of his spine. How old  _ was  _ Rab, now? 

He didn’t dare try, but all the while traveling with him, Erik wanted to help him more. 

But the old man was steadfast in his determination to be independent, and, well… Erik would be a hypocrite to demand the same for himself and yet deny Rab’s own wishes. “We leave for Hotto at first light, forge the Sword, and make peace with whatever comes next. After Mordegon is defeated then we can worry about your grape-jelly fellow.”

Erik could tell that El wanted to argue further, but stayed quiet as the two of them were left alone.

“These tockles…” Erik began slowly as night began to settle in, and a chill from the nighttime desert spread through their room. “They don’t… Mess with people, do they? Climb on them, or- or  _ bite,  _ or-”

El made a face Erik wasn’t quite sure what to make of.

Hopefully it was more of a ‘Erik-thats-the-dumbest-question-I’ve-ever-heard’ kind of face, and less of a ‘well-now-that-you-mention-it’ sort of expression.

“They don’t bother people.” El said, picking his words carefully, and letting Erik know that this answer was a kind half-truth to help settle his nerves.

El wouldn’t outright lie to him… But Erik wouldn’t mind a simple fib if El was just trying to make him feel better. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one notice any people other than me.”

That did help to hear, actually.

But Erik would still prefer not to think too deeply about the tockle that may or may not still be sitting happily and invisibly in the corner of their room. “Any other special Luminary abilities we should know about? First the Watchers, and now the Tockles… Don’t tell me you talk to animals, too.”

An all too happy smile spread over El’s face, and Erik knew he had successfully diverted his dragon’s worries, even if he was beginning to grow concerned for his sanity. 

“Actually,” El began, “As long as I’m giving away all my secrets now, I haven’t told you how I always know what the weather is going to be like, have I?”

Places to be or not, Erik didn’t mind staying up until the first light of dawn, listening to El talk. 

Though towards that first light he found himself dozing off rather than paying attention, but wrapped up in El’s arms, a tail twined with his…

Tockles and Watchers and Dragons and talking cows… It didn’t matter.

He loved El before, and right now…

He was beginning to understand why. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last fic I posted had a few paragraphs missing right in the middle.  
> I’m not sure if that issue came from google docs, AO3, or if it was just somehow my own fault, but if you see something that looks odd, like it’s missing a few words, say something! It just might be!


	20. Dragon’s Breath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hammer crashed down.  
> The image of Veronica’s phantom visage seeing them off flashed in his mind.

The clash of iron against the cooling metal of the mold. The burning in his hands from the toxic implement. 

Another clash.

Another burst of flame.

As the Hotto steppe came into view, Serena had asked if she’d ever shared the story of how she met Erik.

Of course they all knew that they had all met by Hotto, they all knew of how they’d saved Veronica from the Crypt, but what they somehow didn’t know, was how Erik tried to mug Serena before that. 

El didn’t even know that Erik had tried to  _ mug  _ her at all!

All he’d said was that he’d found someone to help, and El never thought to ask for any further detail. 

It was just like him to leave out that crucial little detail, and just like Serena to have never mentioned it again.

The thought that he would’ve threatened her at knifepoint for a healing spell or two-

Even only knowing him for mere days at that point…

He really would’ve done anything for El.

And he still would.

El again brought down the weight of the hammer. A burst of sparks.

It was nearly done.

El doesn’t know if it’s because Erik knew that he once would have, if it’s leftover from before, or if it’s all new…

But he’s finding that he doesn’t care. 

It’s sill Erik, and every day he’s acting more and more like himself.

Not only that, but he doesn’t have the time to care. To still be upset.

Twice more.

The iron hardly phased him. Between the radiating heat of the volcano, and knowing exactly what this sword would be used for… 

Who cared for a little illness?

They’d found their way to Hotto, found out the reason for the two small dragons that guarded their mother, for what Miko was hiding.

What she was planning.

Her own son changed. Consumed entirely by the curse over the monsters.

And not the only one.

A little family in Hotto, all dragons. But still sane.

And yet they were the ones Miko targeted. Planned to sacrifice to sate the god’s fury. 

Even as her son stayed safe, hidden away in Mount Huji, to be fed on a steady diet of human sacrifice. 

Strength flowed through El’s limbs. Weakness cast aside, burned away by the fire both around him, and inside. 

Every single hit of this hammer-

Every last ounce of strength that was forging it. Every fight, every step taken in the battleground to find the oricalcum.

It would be to avenge those that Mordegon had hurt. Displaced.

There were a few reasons he made the offer to escort the twins and their mother to Cobblestone. 

First off, of course, it was to get the little family safe. Promises of safety and apologies or not, he could hardly blame them for no longer feeling safe in the same village prepared to offer them all up as sacrifices to the volcano. 

If only he’d known Zoom before. Perhaps things could have been different.

Or easier, at the least. 

But there wasn’t any reason to dwell on what could have been. 

The light faded, and El saw the crumbled ruins of his home come into view.

Was it wrong, to still feel relief at the sight?

Surely it couldn’t be.

It was home.

Even as changed as it was. 

“It’s not much to see.” El said as Atsuko and Atsuo immediately set off towards the other children they saw. “But you should be safe here.”

It wasn’t El’s place to tell the children to halt, but their mother didn’t move a muscle. 

El remembered that he hadn’t seen any other children their age in Hotto.

He knew what it was like to grow up with only a single friend. Hopefully the chance at making a real community would make this sudden change almost seem worth it, in her eyes.

“Anywhere is better,

If my children can be free,

No matter their scales.”

Cobblestone could certainly be that. For her, and for so many of the other people that had fled to it as a safe haven.

It wasn’t difficult to see her settled, an empty tent set aside for her just for the night, until they found somewhere more permanent. 

Or as permanent as things were, these days. 

It was all too fragile. The monster attacks has wavered with El and Hendrik’s victory, but the monsters weren’t the only battle the survivors were fighting.

Good food and fresh water was growing scarce, and even with the stores that Cobblestone had saved…

Rationing had begun, and it was only a matter of time before it all grew tighter.

Avoiding the King’s tent like the plague, El walked further along the path he knew his mother should be down, Erik following quietly behind, not much to say. 

Not sure exactly  _ what  _ to say.

The second reason was much more personal. 

He’d seen what had become of Ryu. The same curse he’d suffered from himself, but so much stronger. Overpowering and claiming the young warrior until there hadn’t been anything left of him  _ but  _ the dragon. 

Leaving nothing left of Miko when she finally confessed her dishonesty. 

Some nights, El could still taste the copper of Erik’s blood in his mouth. 

He’d come so dangerously close to losing himself completely. To doing something he couldn’t ever fix.

And  _ Ryu…  _

Ryu had been living proof of what he nearly became.

What, he feared, he still could become. 

Time was up.

The sword was going to be forged, and he would be off to face his fate.

And El wasn’t going to risk dying without saying goodbye to everyone.

Not after Ryu.

And for the third reason… 

The tent is tied closed, and for a moment, El isn’t even sure if he would be welcome to enter uninvited. 

Of course Amber would be thrilled to see him…

What felt like home and what did not was no longer clear, the line that divided the two broken and blurred. 

But he didn’t come home just to become a coward at the last moment. 

“Could you… Wait? Out here, just for a moment?” 

Erik nodded, but stood with his hands crossed over his chest, wings tucked in close and tail all but pulled between his legs, taking up as little space as he possibly could. “Will she not be happy to meet me?”

El had already asked Erik if he would want to meet his mum, but he only wants to give her just a little warning, and ask her to be gentle, considering everything that Erik had been through.

And… He wanted just a little privacy as he said goodbye. “She’ll love you.” El tried to reassure him, a hand on his cheek, thumb brushing over the icy scales on his face. 

There wasn’t any other alternative.

Amber would love just about anyone he could possibly bring home, she was just that kind of person. But  _ Erik  _ specifically… 

It was no contest. “I just need a few minutes. It won’t be long, I promise.”

Erik let him go, and though El knew that he was safe in Cobblestone, he couldn’t help the apprehension he felt from leaving him alone even for a moment. 

Or maybe, that was just from what he was about to do. 

“Mum?” El called through the canvas, and for a moment, it was silent enough to have heard a pindrop. 

The tent flap was nearly torn in her hurry to open it. “El!” The whole world might as well have vanished, with the way he was pulled inside, and nearly to the ground as he was yanked down to eye level, head turned this way and that as she searched for any new marks. 

It took long enough, and more than enough reassurance, but eventually she believed him when he said he was fine.

She was so happy to see him home, even if it was only going to be for a while… 

El nearly gave up.

Nearly called Erik in early, but he knew that if he did, he would regret it. 

Words forced out, El began to explain. “Tomorrow, I’ll be challenging the Lord of Shadows.”

She didn’t speak as he explained what the last few weeks had been like.

Or, as he explained the story of Cobblestone’s three new refugees. 

Not until he confessed to what had happened to Miko, and her son Ryu.

And… As he laid bare his fear that he wouldn’t make it back home, just as the other dragon. 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Amber’s voice was firm, but it trembled with the same terror El felt.

The same fear that he wouldn’t be coming home. “You’re stronger than that.”

“Please.” El begs, even as it feels like poison is running through his veins, asking something so terrible of her. “Please. Just say it. Just in case.”

“That’s planning for failure.” Amber responds.

“It’s just in case.” He doesn’t know what else to say.

He hears her heave a great sigh, before he’s held tight in her arms, feeling all the world like he’d never left at all.

“Goodbye, El.” She says, though her voice sounds pained. “Just in case I don’t get to say it again, know that I couldn’t be more proud to have you as my son.” A single beat of silence, and she found a way to ruin it. “I don’t think your grandad could’ve ever caught a fish more impressive than you.”

It’s something she’d said before a thousand times over in a hundred different ways, but it still manages to draw a startled laugh out of him. 

“Go on, now.” She says as she pulled away. “But you’d better be coming home again, soon.”

“I’ll try.” El promises, “But there’s one last thing.”

She frowns, suspicious for what else he could possibly have up his sleeve. “You were right. I found Erik. And, I want you to meet him.”

And when she sees him, it’s instant. 

She dotes on him, lamenting how small and thin he is, before changing her tune entirely and commenting on how handsome he is and making sure to mention how amazing El said he was those months ago when she saw him last.

It should’ve been embarrassing. El was sure that was what she was trying to do, in the first place…

But Erik nearly cries when she hugs him. Smiles all the while. 

Erik hadn’t known any other family besides Mia before. And now… He hardly had even that.

But with their friends, and now Amber, already telling him to call her ‘Mum’ as well…

He’d managed to find one.

If nothing else. If this was goodbye… 

At the very least, it seemed like Erik would have a place to go if he was gone.

That would be a comfort for the day to come.

The hammer crashed down.

The image of Veronica’s phantom visage seeing them off flashed in his mind.

For everyone Mordegon had  _ killed.  _

He wasn’t tiring from the work, and yet-

“I’ll take it from here.” The hammer was all but ripped from his hands and Hendrik took it by the handle. “You’ll do no one any good if you injure yourself.”

“Uh, uh, uh!” Sylvando cut in before El could protest, stepping closer to the forge and Hendrik both. “I’m not about to let you steal all the glory! If you get to have a go, we all do!”

A quick glance around told him that no one would be allowing El to fight to get the hammer back, or giving up on having a turn.

“We saw on the vision that all the auld heroes all had a bash, we’d best follow their lead, eh?” Rab said, quickly followed by Jade.

One by one, they all agreed, took their turn, and said their peace, brighter and brighter light flashing through the magma with each consecutive strike.

And finally, Erik took the hammer. If the iron bothered him, he didn’t say. “I’ve followed you this far. I’m in it for the long haul. No matter what comes next.”

And with that final strike, the metal cooled.

The sword was colorless, a steady stone grey across the surface, but the moment El’s hand touched the surface, color and detail stretched over its surface as if paint had been spilled.

A perfect replica of what had been stolen from Yggdrasil, and as El lifted it from the forge, he found that he hadn’t ever found a weapon that fit so perfectly into his grasp, nor felt so light to wield.

The sword of light should have been a heavy burden, but this new weapon felt lighter than air. 

Thunder crashed above, the storm that had been brewing all day finally coming to a head.

Fitting, for a lightning storm to begin the night before what very well could be his final battle.

Nothing left to do.

The time was at hand, and there wasn’t any reason left to remain in the crucible. 

Maybe someday they’d have use for it again.

But for now-

El would be glad to leave. 

~~

One last good night of rest.

As much as El hated to spend even a moment longer in Hotto, he wasn’t going to fight it.

They all needed sleep.

They all needed quiet.

A handful of hours to make their peace, and prepare for whatever tomorrow may bring 

Though not one of them found anything more to say to one another besides wishes of a night well rested.

There should have been more to say, and yet there simply wasn’t.

All that needed to be said had been said at the forge, and not one of them dared risk fate aloud.

It was just when El was about to smother the flame in the lantern when he noticed Erik staring down at the palms of his hands.

Even in the low light, he could see redness stretching from his wrists to his fingertips. 

El’s own hands were no better, the touch of the iron burning even as he hadn’t cared to stop and think about how they’d feel once they left the forge. 

“Here, let me?”

El still wasn’t the most adept with healing magic, but the burns were mild, and there wasn’t any need to disturb Serena or Rab for something so simple. 

As the redness faded with the glow of magic, it almost felt as if El’s heart had skipped a beat.

It would seem as though one good thing had come of the curse.

Erik..

Was  _ like him. _

Not that that was anything of a new discovery, but it was only now truly settling in. 

They weren’t completely alike, Erik’s natural immunity to the cold and aversion to the heat the perfect opposite to El’s own nature, but there were things that were easily the same.

The poisonous touch of iron, for one.

And for another…

It had been something El had shoved to the back of his mind. Something he couldn’t afford to worry about, something he didn’t  _ want  _ to think about.

But now… 

Dragons lifespans stretch over untold numbers of human lives. 

El hadn’t dared before consider that he would lose Erik to time, while he still had centuries of life left to live. 

But… Perhaps now he didn’t need to worry about their different lifespans anymore after all.

“Is that better?” El asked as he let the spell fade away, but Erik didn’t pull his hands from El’s grip.

“Is that what that iron bracelet felt like?” 

Caught off guard, El wasn’t sure how to respond right away.

He’d nearly forgotten. The days he spent fighting off the curse all blurring together into one single haze of headache and fear. “It was.” It was a lie, but El didn’t care. Erik didn’t need the details, he didn’t need to know that it had been worse, that the bracelet had burned five times worse. 

It was still such a faint feeling, their healing bond still so weak and fragile — But El still knew how to interpret even the slightest of feelings from Erik, and could tell right away that he wasn’t quite believed. 

Ever so careful of his horns, and slow enough that El could push him away if he chose, Erik moved his hands from El’s to instead close them around his back, and tucked his head against El’s shoulder.

“Please don’t ever do that again.”

“Erik-”

“Please.” Erik wasn’t giving El so much as a sliver of a chance to defend himself. “Please, don’t hurt yourself anymore.”

And what else could he do but relent? Besides, if all went to plan, after tomorrow he wouldn’t ever need to. “I won’t.”

His dragon in his arms, he could almost see a future where they were both safe. Where they didn’t have to worry about where they’d be the next day. About what would happen. 

Just maybe, he’d have Erik for centuries to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the home stretch, now!


	21. Whatever it Takes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “My sister did not die in vain.” Serena spoke firmly, hands clasping her sister’s old staff, her own new weapon, tight enough that it must have been painful.  
> It wouldn’t be fair to make the claim that she would be fighting any harder than the rest of them, each carried their own fury and grief that they would take out on the Lord of Shadows… But Serena would still be going stronger than she ever had before. Speaking for them all, Serena refused to back down. “She died for each of us to survive. To bring back the light. We’re all here until Mordegon falls.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me for the lackluster fight scenes. They’re very much not my speciality.

Hotto is silent this early in the morning. 

No children out playing in the weakened light. No blacksmiths beginning the day’s work.

No tourists making their way from the inn to the steam baths.

Not even the priest out by the gates to preach to the disheartened masses.

The city was alive, but with the loss of both Miko and Ryu, and the sudden self-imposed banishment of the twin’s family…

It may as well be.

And El couldn’t dredge up the heart to care. It very well could be a good thing, a perfect incentive to teach the town a thing or two about compassion. 

Their friends were all already waiting by the village gates, and it was just the two of them left to catch up.

Last moments to prepare, and they weren’t entirely sure how.

Medicinal herbs and moonwort bulbs didn’t exactly seem like things that would help in such a large-scale battle, and they had Rab and Serena’s healing spells anyway… But they bought what the shopkeepers had to spare anyway.

It felt better than doing nothing. 

“El…” Erik tried to grab his attention as they started down another of Hotto’s many sprawling staircases, sounding out of his depth. “I’m.. Not real sure how to say this all, but — Just, before we go. I want to thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me for anything.” El responded, hoping that would be the end of it. He knew exactly where it was that Erik was trying to go.

“I don’t.” He agreed, “But I’m going to, anyway.” He came to a stop halfway down the stairs. “Thank you. For taking me along, and taking care of me. Even when I was a hindrance. Even when you could’ve left me behind.” 

“Erik, you were never a-”

“Just in case this fight is our last-“

“Erik,  _ stop.”  _

“What, you get to make an ultimatum and I don’t?” Erik sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. “Did you think I didn’t know? That tent wasn’t exactly soundproof, and I lost my  _ memory,  _ not my brain.” 

El shrugged. 

He should’ve known that Erik would’ve been listening in. 

“So, let me say it? Just in case we both don’t make it out?”

“I’ll make sure you get through,” El answered on instinct. “Even if I don’t.” 

He wasn’t prepared for the shoe that met in the center of his back, sending him tumbling down the last handful of stairs to the earth below.

Feeling bruised but otherwise uninjured, El pushed up from the ground, jaw hanging open at the  _ betrayal of it all- _

Erik was trying not to smile as he enjoyed the simple luxury of coming down the stairs the  _ right  _ way.

All their friends had seen the exchange, and though they all began the short walk over to make sure he was okay, they all knew that he’d done  _ something  _ to deserve the mouthful of dirt. 

“Dumbass,” Erik offered him a hand up. “If you die, I die, or did you forget what Krystalinda said?”

He hadn’t forgotten. It was closer to  _ ‘refused to accept.’  _ El took the hand up, and tried to dust off the soil as best he could.

“Ready to listen now?”

Their friends now in earshot, El answered silently.  _ Yes. _

Taking the hint, Erik spoke in kind, their whole group standing around patiently.  _ Thank you for taking me along. For helping me save Mia. And — Just in case I don’t get to say it again — I love you, El.  _

“I hate to interrupt such a sweet moment,” Sylvando cut in, “But you do realize we can all hear you?”

Erik colored beet red from his neck to his hairline, but El took the moment to change the subject, and make the offer he’d been dreading.

“This is your last chance to leave.” He said above the quiet laughter at Erik’s expense. “None of you have to join me. If you want to go back home, I’m not going to stop you-“

“My sister did not die in vain.” Serena spoke firmly, hands clasping her sister’s old staff, her own new weapon, tight enough that it must have been painful. 

It wouldn’t be fair to make the claim that she would be fighting any harder than the rest of them, each carried their own fury and grief that they would take out on the Lord of Shadows… But Serena would still be going stronger than she ever had before. Speaking for them all, Serena refused to back down. “She died for each of us to survive. To bring back the light. We’re all here until Mordegon falls.”

~~

With the sword of light at his disposal, the barrier hardly amounts to anything. 

It almost feels like a good sign, that it was so simple to destroy, but it isn’t the only thing guarding the gates to Mordegon’s fortress. 

Before they can reach the doors that tower high above their heads, a sword, double-edged and deadly buries into the ground at their feet, missing the group by mere centimeters. 

“You eluded my blade…” the monster pushed up from the ground, towering over them all. “Of course, I would expect no less from the vanquishers of my fellow Spectral Sentinels.” It’s red, pupiless eyes settled on Erik. “Though you cannot expect to escape me for a third time. This is where your journey ends. You shall not meet my master. You shall die like dogs at his door!”

**“** ‘Third’?” El hears Jade ask under her breath, readying her spear to attack, but El recognizes Indignus from the vision the seer shared with him. This is the creature responsible for the trade Erik was forced to make.

And he wasn’t about to let it escape with its life. 

With only a change in form and a single order, his friends make way for him to attack alone. 

They can’t afford to expend too much energy so early into their invasion.

And why should they, when he can burn Indignus to a crisp.

The time spent in Hotto and Gallopolis had fueled the fire he had, and Indignus falls easily, and with few words.

“What is done… Cannot be undone…. Time passed… is lost forever!”

El would be lying if he said that the easy victory had nearly been disappointing.

He’d wanted Indignus to suffer longer.

But again, such an  _ undignified  _ death was more than enough to sate that particular bloodlust.

The inside of the fortress isn’t built like a maze, but rather it is protected by being difficult to scale without the ability to fly.

And well, it’s a good thing they have El, and though unpracticed and slow, Erik as well. 

_ Go carefully,  _ El advised as he took flight,  _ I’ll be right here, just in case.  _

Fire and ice both to shatter the crystals blocking their path, it’s a fast trip to the top floor.

To where they all hear a woman crying. 

“Th- that voice!” Without needing any further evidence to know that it was Veronica she heard crying, Serena rushed forward across the narrow bridge, only to halt as the girl in red stood.

Looking her natural age, untouched by the curse placed upon her, staring at her sister through a doll’s eyes.

El knew right away this wasn’t truly Veronica.

He’d seen her ghostly form-

And Serena.

Serena had seen her body.

Not-Veronica rushed past her sister without even a moment of indecision, to stand before El, who stepped back on instinct, nerves screaming at him to fight, but part of him, some stupid, hopeful part of him, resisted. Telling him not to strike at a friend. 

“Oh, thank the heavens you’re all here! It’s been so lonely here all on my own…” Eyes like a dead fish stared unblinkingly into his own. “Now that you’re here… Can I ask you for something? Do you think you could die?”

He hears everyone as they all began to shout, but the noise is all in the background of his mind, only focused on the girl before him, so painfully familiar, and entirely unknown. A single pause for breath, and words like vitriol spewed from his false companion’s mouth. “I mean,  _ I  _ had to die, and you didn’t. And it was your fault. You weren’t ready, and  _ I  _ had to save you all! Oh, and that’s hardly everything you’re guilty of. Everyone else that died, everyone that  _ will  _ die? They’ll blame you, too. It’s so noisy there, in the void. We’re all waiting for you to join us. What do you say? Will you hurry up and die?”

El was frozen.

But Veronica suffered a hit anyway.

A blast of ice hit her square in the side, and sent the apparition flying into the far wall, where she did not get up. 

_ I know I don’t remember her,  _ Erik lifts his head, glaring daggers at the apparition before turning to the rest of his companions,  _ but I still know that she wouldn’t have said such terrible things.  _

And while El still feels as though he was about to be ill, he concedes that she wouldn’t, at the same time Serena agreed **.**

“She wouldn’t.” Serena agreed, staring coldly at where the creature that wore her sister’s face had fallen. “She wouldn’t ever have said such terrible things, and I know she wouldn’t regret what she did! She died knowing that we would bring back the light!”

_ And she wouldn’t have blamed you, El.  _ Erik assured him,  _ No one would have blamed you.  _

Erik knew the story. He knew every last detail of their past failure-

But still, looking on from an outsider’s eyes-

El couldn’t tell if that made his claim more or less accurate.

But El wasn’t given the time to consider either option as a cloud of dark smoke burst from where Veronica lay slumped.

One by one, fire lit in each torch, lighting the room and revealing what had replaced Veronica on the far side of the hall.

Standing from the floor, ice crystals shattering and falling to the floor from where they’d frozen him against the ground, Jasper stood, bearing the same monstrous form he had taken the last time El had seen him.

Embers lit up the air around him as he began to laugh. “Still you speak of hope? Of light? Even now, with one of your band beyond saving?” His eyes drifted to the second dragon among their ranks. “Another forever changed? Your faith is truly sickening.” Wings tattered along the edges spread wide, and Jasper lifted to the air. “Gaze upon me and despair, Hendrik! I have surpassed you at last.”

“You have surpassed me in wickedness and naught else!” Hendrik called out at the creature hovering above their heads. “I should have been able to see what monster you would become.”

“‘Monster’?” Jasper asked, and gestured to the Luminary and Erik. “You say that, even while allying yourself with  _ monsters  _ like them?”

“I do not mean being Dragonspawn.” Hendrik clarified, not for El or Erik’s benefit. “And you know that.”

“You do not have the time to waste, Luminary!” Hendrik calls, “Find Mordegon. Jasper will be no threat.”

Just as Jasper tries to block their path, Jade parries him. 

“Go on ahead!” Jade calls out, “We’ll take care of him and catch up!”

But El refuses, making no move to follow Hendrik’s order. And he isn’t alone.

They lost Veronica already.

He won’t be losing anyone else. Not one of them left behind..

Jasper manages a few good hits, but he’s as new to this form as Erik is. Unpracticed and sloppy.

It doesn’t take long to bring him down.

“H-how? I am first among demons! Supreme commander of the Spectral Sentinels! How could you possibly defeat me?”

Hendrik doesn’t so much as glance at his disgraced comrade as the rest of them walk by. “Again you surpass me… Again you  _ outdo me!  _ Again… you… You leave me behind.”

Jasper’s claws dig into the marbled floors.

“Leave him.” Hendrik orders. “He’ll perish soon enough.”

Jasper didn’t speak again. Didn’t so much as move from where he had fallen to the ground.

Didn’t fight as the Luminary and all his living companions marched through the door he was meant to guard.

The last barrier between the Light of the Luminary and the Lord of shadows.

This was the last stop.

No one but Mordegon could lay on the other side, and as such, El changed back to his human form, and Erik followed in his lead.

There wouldn’t be any need for their flight from here on out.

El stepped forward, but did so alone.

“What-”

“Can’t — move!”

El only barely dodged being wrapped in the same immobilizing spell, taking to the air, and looking on in despair at what greeted him.

Each of the sentinels.

Each one he had fought to defeat, alive and unharmed, holding each of his companions captive, and Jasper, freshly defeated but without any shame.

“Did you really think me to be beaten?” He demanded, “Did you really think you had bested me? I, Jasper? Commander of the Spectral Sentinels?”

Brave words, El noticed, for someone crumbling to dust.

Fading away just like any other monster. Bit by bit, no matter what front he put on, Jasper was dying, and the other sentinels nothing greater than more illusions.

“By all means, go and face my master, Luminary. But know that you will do so alone. Your friends will be staying here with me.”

El landed lightly back on the ground. 

He wasn’t afraid.

Jasper wasn’t even trying to justify his obvious state.

This was nothing more than a last-ditch effort to scare El into retreat.

Loyal as a dog to his master… But Jasper knew that Mordegon wouldn’t be lifting a finger to aid his most loyal subject. 

“No.” Hendrik watched with disgust in his eyes as the spell remained even as the visage of the Sentinels began to fade. “He won’t be going alone.”

Jade was next to speak up, “We go as one, or not at all.”

One by one, they each remade their promise to remain by his side, and not out of fear for Jasper’s spell, or Jasper himself.

They all knew he was dying.

“You heard!” Erik said at last, “We’re in this together! Not once was I left to suffer alone, and I’m not betraying that. Not ever again.” He finished quietly, thinking of the sister he had to leave, that he could hardly remember. “I’m supposed to help the Luminary. And that means to the bitter end.”

The golden light of the luminary emanated from each one of them. 

Power that belonged to El — Power that they all shared through him.

The light flowed forth across the bonds. Once they hit Jasper, there was no saving him.

The illusions vanished, and Jasper was left on the stone ground, the gifted wings and claws crumbling faster by the second.

But he wasn’t to die alone.

“It is over, Jasper.” Hendrik said in a voice devoid of compassion. “Be still.” Any kinship Hendrik once had for Jasper crumbled away by the man’s actions, and yet… He still found it in his heart to comfort his old friend as he lay dying.

And there, without any further word or action, Jasper faded away.

El turned away, and gave the night the time and privacy he needed to compose himself.

This was it.

This was truly,  _ finally,  _ it.

~~

“So you have come, Luminary.” Mordegon doesn’t move from where he sat in his throne. “But you are too late. The source of life is no more. Erdrea is veiled in darkness, and I will reign forevermore”

The monster stands, what was once the sword of light held tight in his hand. 

“Yggdrasil is dead. You are naught but leaves on an autumn wind. Soon, you shall join Her.”

He makes a slow descent towards El and his companions, and the sword begins to glow. Raising it above his head, and he speaks-

“Your eyes shine with a sickening light. Just as did those of the hero of old. Just as your kin once had. No more.”

With nothing further, he attacks. 

Calling upon the power of a corrupted orb, and drawing on the dying life of Yggdrasil, he creates duplicate after duplicate of himself, drawing the focus away from his true form and leaving El to fight him alone. 

For once his fight is ended not with his flames, but with the sword of light.

“So this is the power of the Luminary… It’s been so long. To think, I had almost forgotten… But it is more fragile than you know.”

Mordegon strains to stand once more, and bright light surrounds him. “I am Mordegon! Master of all things! I call upon the power of the sword!  _ All must be destroyed!”  _

Power shoots up from the sword and in a flash, he destroys his own castle. The floor breaks apart around them, and as Mordegon changes, Erik nearly loses his footing.

El has to pull him from a ledge. When they’re both safe, the smoke clears.

Skeletal and towering, Mordegon laughter bellows, shaking the air around him. “Children of Yggdrasil! Denizens of Light! I will snuff out your lives! You will dwell with me in darkness!”

It’s a sick and twisted mockery of a true dragon. False and disgusting, a form fitting none but a being as cruel as Mordegon himself. 

They fight as one, and for a heartbreaking moment, it feels like they’re losing.

Jade and Erik both are held in the skeletal hands, and as they both cry out in pain-

El feels something he’d hoped he never would again. Except this time- it’s different.

It’s almost the curse. But he’s aware.

He’s in control. 

And with it and the support of both Rab and Serena’s spell casting, he brings Mordegon low.

His eyes are glowing red. His roses are wordless, and his attacks are without mercy.

But he is in control.

He can call upon his fire, on lighting, on each and every spell he knows.

And more than that.

He isn’t fighting alone.

Each one of them attack in perfect tandem of each other, as if they had all been fighting side by side for their entire lives.

As if not only El, but each and every one of them had been born to bring this evil low.

He knows who the target is- and the target is gone.

The power drains from him like water wrung from a rag, and Mordegon is crumbling, Jade and Erik hit the ground hard, but when El reaches the ground, once again human, it’s all he can do to even remain on his feet, every last scrap of energy drained away. 

Erik rushes to his side, his limp ignored, and keeps El upright.

“But… I am Mordegon!” The creature bellows. “Master of all things!” It can’t even die with grace, screeching and fighting the fate it had sealed the moment it took hold of Carnelian’s form. “My reign is not over! It cannot be!”

With a final howl of fury, it reached towards El. “Accursed… Luminary! Loathesome…  _ Yggdragonspawn!” _

Golden light glows from the cracks splintering through bone, and there is naught a thing left of the Lord of Shadows.

There’s thunder crashing in the distance. But the sound isn’t borne of malice any longer.

It’s a lightning storm as result of El’s summon. The lighting of his own divine power.

“...Is it over?” Rab asks, terrified to break the silence, to call forth another hard-won battle, disbelieving that the revenge he’d sought for over two decades now was finally in his grasp. 

But still, it isn’t quite over.

The ground beneath their feet shifts once more, and El feels Erik’s hold on him tighten. He wasn’t risking anything this time around.

No one else would fall, today.

“We need to get out of here —  _ now!”  _ Jade called out to them all above the crash of cracking stone. 

“Can you run?” El asks Erik as they both struggle back up. 

“Can  _ you?” _

“No.” El answered with a shaky grin.

None of them are able to run, but it hardly matters.

In the sky, surrounded by falling rubble — there isn’t anywhere  _ to  _ run. Nowhere to call Cetecea, and not a scrap of energy left to zoom them all out.

But- it’s done. They’ve won, and fulfilled the single task he was born to.

They’d all made their peace. Said their goodbyes. 

And soon enough, they’d be able to face the only person they were missing, dying the same way she did, but dying well enough to make her proud. 

In the center of the destruction, arms linked and wings spread wide to accommodate all seven that make up their family.

Together they would make it out, or not at all.

Rubble falls, and the ground beneath them all splits.

But they are not sent weightless.

The marble gives way to grass.

Roots and vines climb around them.

Yggdrasil protects her chosen heroes within her regrown heart. 

Yggdrasil rises, and with her revival plants regrow, monsters fade, river beds are again filled with freshwater, and the warmth of summer washes over them all. 

It’s over.

_ It’s over,  _ and their world is free. 

The vines part, and all around them in new growth. Branches restored and in full bloom, the lights of passing souls finally returning to where they belong.

Yggdrasil is more than alive.

Injuries momentarily forgotten, in a burst of relief too strong to suppress, Erik jumps into El’s arms, and they manage just about half a spin before El is on his backside.

Erik’s weight squishing his tail.

But he doesn’t care.

He doesn’t call attention to it.

Instead, he just wraps his arms around the other dragon, and cries. He’s laughing, delighted and relieved and so, much  _ so  _ indescribably happy, but —

So much has been lost.

And he isn’t the only one. A feeling like sunlight, bright and beautiful and everything that he had missed, and yet still muddied by grief.

But it didn’t matter.

For the first time in months… He had Erik’s love again. 

“I wish Veronica could have been with us to see this.” Serena’s words are soft, but heavy with their shared grief.

Veronica  _ should  _ have been with them to see the result of all her work, all her sacrifice.

It’s enough to taint their victory. 

But-

Their victory was hard earned.

No matter where she was now, up on Yggdrasil awaiting her twin, just out of their sight, or as a brand new bud on Yggdrasil’s branches, a new life waiting to be born-

She would be proud of what they had accomplished.

“It’s time to go home,” Erik asked as they all began to settle, “Don’t you think?”

_ Home.  _ Wherever could that be? “Yeah,” El agreed. Cobblestone. Sniflheim. Dundrasil. The open sea on the salty stallion. Any place. It didn’t matter. “It’s time to go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that, folks.... Is the end of act ii!!  
> I can hardly believe I actually made it this far...  
> Only one more chapter before it’s time for the you-know-what. :3


	22. First Frost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The warmth of summer never did seem to last long enough.  
> Here and gone in the blink of an eye, always leaving El cold, dredging through the winter months waiting for springtime to bloom once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in two days? It’s more likely than you think.

The warmth of summer never did seem to last long enough. 

Here and gone in the blink of an eye, always leaving El cold, dredging through the winter months waiting for springtime to bloom once again. 

But this new summer, born suddenly with Yggdrasil’s revival only lasted half as long as it should have.

They had only two short months of summer heat before the temperatures dropped and the winter they faced now was already colder than anyone in Cobblestone could remember.

Six months of peace from monsters and the like… 

But only four that the world was able to truly enjoy.

Winter had set in, and no one was prepared. 

Yggdrasil’s fall had flattened fields of crops, storehouses and homes ransacked by monsters and the cruel alike, and their brief respite hadn’t been long enough to restock everything that they had lost.

The animal and plant life has begun to retake their natural place in the local ecosystems, but it was a fragile thing, and overhunting was still a very real danger. 

No one in Cobblestone was starving, but no one went to bed full, either. 

“Go inside, dear.” Amber asked him gently. “You’ve done your fair share of work for the day. Get some rest.”

El continued what he was doing without looking up, pulling away yellow and rotting leaves from the rest of the plant, getting rid of the dead to make room for what would hopefully grow new. “I don’t need rest,” he protested, “Everyone else is still working. I can’t sit inside doing nothing.”

Amber frowned at her son, seeing the dark circles under his eyes and the barely noticeable, but still there, hollow to his cheeks. 

He’d only barely begun to look himself again, and here he was, beginning to look like a stranger to her all over again.

But at the very least, his horn was steadily growing back. 

A cold wind ripped through the canyon Cobblestone was built into, carrying snowflakes with it.

It wouldn’t be long now until they would be trudging through it. 

She shivered, pulling her coat in closer. 

But El didn’t have the same luxury.

Being cold-blooded, he relied only on the enchantments of the cloak he wore, and the simple spells didn’t do all that much against the freeze they were out in. 

Nose and ears reddened from the cold, she caught him sniffle. 

“And what are you going to say if Erik comes home to find you’ve worked yourself sick again?”

“He won’t be home for a few days yet.” El says, as if that answers Amber’s question at all. 

Amber set her small basket of harvested root vegetables down, and started pruning the plants across from El.

At the very least she could make the work go faster. Get him inside sooner.

...Until he noticed a draft that needed patching. Or wanted to go and try the river for fish. Or someone else came by to check up on them, and he found some reason to go and help  _ them,  _ instead. 

He’d caught cold earlier in the month, and it was as if he wanted to turn what little was left into pneumonia. 

It wasn’t as if Amber didn’t understand how he felt. “You’ll be out back out there again when spring comes.”

_ “If  _ Spring comes.” El muttered under his breath.

Amber probably wasn’t meant to hear. She sighed at the stubborn streak he’d grown from his time on the road. 

It was a good thing, to be sure. No longer the little push-over Gemma had wrapped around her little finger, but somehow even harder to get him to take proper care of himself. 

Just over his shoulder, she caught sight of Rab making his way back up the hill.

Thank  _ goodness.  _

These days, it seemed like it was easier for him to get through to the boy. 

El, too lost in his own thoughts doesn’t notice his grandfather until a hand comes down to clap on his shoulder. 

The old man really ought to know better by now. 

El startles, but thankfully instead of flared wings giving Rab a fair bruise, he just shoots up into the air, stumbling to the side.

Rab laughs before El can even start his own frustrated reminder of what happened to the  _ last  _ person to do that. “Is he still refusing to go inside?” 

“When does he not?” 

“Ah, don’t worry too much. He’ll be taking a break soon enough. Just a matter of waiting until he turns to ice. Or, when Erik and Mia get home. Whichever comes first.”

They talk about him as if he isn’t there. Chuckle to themselves about how he isn’t able to say no to his partner. 

But El doesn’t notice. Too lost in his own thoughts.

It wasn’t so much guilt that kept him busy, like everyone thought. He knew the cold was worse for him than others, and he didn’t feel useless for not being the one out hunting. 

He never had been in winter, anyway. 

Erik knew what he was doing, and Mia was enjoying the time she spent with her brother. 

He was working just to stay busy.

When he was still… It was harder to keep it all at bay.

Those first few months… It had all been fine.

The peacetime had been everything they could have hoped for.

The land still bore the scars from Yggdrasil’s fall. 

There was still rubble too big to easily move, some even still burning with a fire that no one had quite figured out how to smother, the people who had changed still remained the same… And at first glance, that didn’t seem like a perfect ending. 

And it wasn’t. But at the same time, it really was the best they could hope for. The land was healing, Yggdrasil was back in the sky, and the hordes of monsters had vanished, making it perfectly safe for just about anyone to move from town to town. 

Helidor was rebuilding, under the strict eye of it’s recrowned princess and it’s, now lone, eagle. 

Arboria was also under reconstruction, though Serena had not returned home, instead choosing to travel the world, helping where she could.

And hardly alone, at that. Traversing the entire globe on foot hadn’t been her only option, and it had seemed like such a good idea to join Sylvando’s parade, since they were heading in the same direction anyway.

All that had left was Erik, Rab, and El himself.

All three of them, plus Mia, since they could provide her a stable place to rest and recover, had settled down in Cobblestone. 

It had been ideal. They’d rebuilt Amber’s cottage bigger, to accommodate their bigger family. 

It hadn’t taken all that long, and El had just been happy to be home. 

But it got cold, and everything got worse.

They hadn’t held any belief that this first winter would be easy. 

But they hadn’t known exactly how bad it would be.

Snow fell in Lonalulu. Ice covered the shallows of every lake, ponds all frozen through.

Even Sniflheim struggled with the bitter cold. 

People were hungry, and people were getting sick. 

And to only add on to his troubles, El was struggling with troubles that he felt he could only confide to Erik for.

Strange dreams he couldn’t quite put into words. Colors, bright and blinding, the sounds of clocks ticking, of gears turning. The pitch-black eyes of a tockle, but staring down at him from high above his head. 

The tockles themselves were acting odd, as well. No longer spending their days nonsensically, but all still. Standing in place, each one looking off in the same direction. 

Not to mention his little anomaly. ‘Grape Jelly’ as Rab and Erik had taken to calling it. 

Perhaps naming it wasn’t a smart thing to do, but in the end the silly name made El feel just a bit more at ease with it constantly hanging around, not still like it’s kin, but making a nuisance of itself.

Trying to drag away the sword of light, though the weapon is far too heavy for its hands.

Odd. Considering how light the blade is. 

El doesn’t trust it.

But doesn’t know how to make it leave-

He’s pulled from his thoughts by coughing.

It’s nothing serious.

Shouldn’t be anything to worry about.

And yet-

His stomach drops.

El shares a glance with Amber, and gives in to her unspoken demand.

“I think I’ll go in after all.” He says, brushing soil from his trousers. “Grandad, are you coming?”

_ Grandad.  _ It was something he’d only recently begun calling Rab. Only after Amber had started it, referring to him as El’s  _ other  _ grandfather, and Erik had followed suit.  _ If I call Amber ‘mum,’ why shouldn’t I call Rab ‘grandad,’ too? _

It was much easier to do than he had expected it to be, and it made the old man happier than anything to be a part of a family again. 

It was significantly warmer inside the cottage. The hearth left to burn day and night. It was a little uncomfortable for Rab and Amber after a point, but nothing they couldn’t tolerate.

And though El hated sleeping alone, if it ever got to be too much for Erik or Mia, they could easily be found up on the straw roof, perfectly comfortable in the frigid air. 

El takes the pot from its place near the fire, and hooks it above the open flame. 

A little early to start supper, yes.

But a good enough way to stay busy. 

“I still can’t believe that you really come from Cobblestone…” Rab says, not for the first time as he settles back in his chair. 

Crossing the threshold into the little village, and learning that he’d come so close to meeting Rab years earlier… It had been more than a surprise to them both. “If only I’d noticed you then. Or if I’d just tried harder to keep tabs on the old codger… Maybe I wouldn't have lost you.”

He trails off, lost in thought. 

“Maybe not.” El says quietly, watching the water begin to boil. “We can’t know what would’ve been different. There’s no point in wondering.”  _ Liar.  _ As if he didn’t spent hours dreaming of ways things could have changed if he had been just a bit stronger. Just a little more aware.

“Exactly my point!” Rab nods solemnly. “I told you about the visions I had while in the void… Chalky was there, enjoying the celebrations with everyone else. If I had still known him, he very well could have died alongside so many others that night in Dundrasil… And then who would have been there to take you in?”

He’s serious, El noticed. “There’s no point in worrying things that you can’t change. You saved the world, hell. We all played our part in doing so. It isn’t fair to ask ourselves for more than that.” 

He’s right, El knows.

But he still can’t help but wonder.

And he can’t help but feel unease at how familiar Rab’s words are to what so many monsters had told him…

That time passed is time lost.

He’d come to terms with Veronica’s passing.

They all had, sooner or later. 

But that didn’t mean he didn’t wish for a way to change her fate.

Or the fates of so many others lost.

And though they hardly graced his thoughts any longer, he wished for a way to return Erik’s missing memories.

“I know, grandad.” El says, and leaves it at that. 

The water starts boiling.

And El feels something on the edge of his senses.

It’s faint, but it’s there, and it’s something he’d always recognize.

He’s home early.

Rab needs no explanation for the way his grandson makes it across the room and out the door in record time.

He’s seen it happen enough by now. 

With a chuckle, he pushed up from his seat to take the pot from the fire, and follow outside.

He can take his time, though.

It would surely still be a few minutes before the other two dragons touch down in Cobblestone. 

El feels not unlike a puppy waiting for it’s master to come back home as he stands at the village gate. So excited, he can just about ignore the tockle where it sits on a nearby rock.

But… As Erik grows closer, El can’t help but notice something wrong.

The emotions he can tell Erik is feeling are warm. He can feel pride… Mia must’ve gotten something good. There’s excitement, there’s a little weariness…

But there’s something that makes El’s heart sink.

Something dark and hollow.

Something is very  _ wrong,  _ but as Erik touches down with his sister, the both of them changing back human, he doesn’t show it.

Nothing is outwardly different.

Mia is in good enough spirits, hauling a buck bigger than she is. He can see her struggle under it’s weight, but doesn’t bother asking why Erik wasn’t helping.

Sure enough, she was insisting on carting her haul on her own, no matter the soreness she’d be feeling later.

And the buck itself was reason to celebrate, and just enough to take the edge off of El’s worry. It was strong and plump, somewhere they’d managed to find an animal still thriving from the summer, and where there was one, there’d be more. 

And while Erik is no less excited for Mia’s accomplishment, no less excited for the  _ new  _ supper that Amber would now be cooking, he was more subdued. 

_ Later,  _ he promises when El finds a moment to ask him what’s wrong.  _ I’ll tell you later, promise. _

He takes his time to fulfill that promise, until dinner is finished and everything has been cleaned away, and everyone else has gone to bed.

Until El manages to sleep even through his worries, his partner finally back home where he belonged. 

It’s late when El is shaken awake. 

Ready to argue for the sake of his sleep, he isn’t given a chance. 

“Come for a fly with me.” Erik whispers, low enough not to wake even a mouse. “Please, I know you shouldn’t. I know it’s cold, but this… This is very important. I need to show you something.”

El couldn’t say no to Erik for the most meaningless of things.

How was he supposed to when he sounded this distraught? 

They fly easily to the top of the Tor, well above the cloud layer. 

Where the glow of Yggdrasil lights up the night better than the moon and stars.

“I noticed this days ago… I’m shocked no one else has, yet.” The anxiety he feels only rose with the time that had passed, and now, it’s all El can detect. “I didn’t want to panic everyone, but… Look at Yggdrasil.”

El does… And sees nothing. “What about Her?” El asks. She looks fine enough to him.

Goddess knows they’d both worked hard enough to make sure of that.

“Closer.” Erik says, unwilling to say it aloud.

It’s harder to see in the dark, but… 

He sees it.

And he feels sick.

Falling through the air around Her is snow. Nothing too unusual-

El frowns.

“That’s not-“ Snowflakes aren’t that big, and the clouds around Her are few. 

And it’s not just in the air.

El takes a single step forward, and hears a leaf crunch underneath his boot.

He feels a chill run down his spine.

It’s an  _ Yggdrasil  _ leaf. Dead and brown, just like any regular tree would drop.

Yggdrasil is in Autumn. 

That’s something that’s never happened before. In all his own life, and in all the lives that have come before.

The  _ Tree of Life  _ does not wither.

Her leaves do not fall.

And all of a sudden, El’s dreams, and the tockles, make sense.

It’s a summons. 

Not a full year since Yggdrasil first fell, and the Luminary is needed again. 

“So,” Erik sighs, feeling every bit of the dread, of the conflict that El does. “What’s our plan?”

El takes a moment to close his eyes.

A single moment to be angry, to be scared. To be all the things the Luminary cannot afford to be when there’s work to be done. 

“The tockles.” El answers when he opens his eyes again, just to find himself looking into red. 

When had Erik moved? 

When had he taken El’s hands in his own?

“We’ll follow the tockles.”

~~

“Off on another adventure, are you?” Amber asked from the doorway, watching her two boys pack their bags. 

She hardly expected them to stay in Cobblestone forever, but she hoped they would remain with her for just a little while longer.

Amber doesn’t ask them to stay. “How long will you be gone?” She knows that they wouldn’t be leaving for anything that wasn’t important. She knows better than to argue for them to wait at all.

She hopes that it’s nothing  _ too  _ dangerous, but packing their bags by candlelight in the witching hour… She isn’t stupid. 

“Not long. I promise.” El says, bucking his back to his belt, only able to meet her eyes for a moment. Why on earth would he be ashamed of himself? “A month at the most. If we’ll be longer, I promise we’ll come back here first. I won’t leave you without any news.”

That, at the least, helps settle the worry in her belly. A month. That’s time she can count away. “Will your grandfather be joining you?”

“No.” Erik says, his tone final.

El doesn’t argue, only nods. As if they had decided on this already. “And don’t let him follow. He deserves to be able to rest.”

“I’ll do what I can.” Amber says, knowing full well there wouldn’t be a thing she could do if the old man decided that he wasn’t one to be left behind. 

“And what am I to say to Mia?” Amber says to Erik, who winces. The young girl had been begging for an adventure of her own for ages, now. When morning came and the little dragon girl learned she’d been left behind… 

“There’s a reason we were trying to leave quietly.” He says, but gives her a fair enough reason nonetheless. “You saw the deer she caught, she wasn’t lying when she told you she brought it down on her own. Cobblestone needs  _ someone  _ who can help keep food on everyone’s table…” He trailed off for a moment. “But right now, El needs me more.” 

“Be sure to bring her back something nice.” Amber tries to smile for them, just a few moments more, knowing that she’ll be crying soon enough after they leave. 

They say their good-byes, and in the dead of the night, again they have to set off on a journey.

El wonders when they’ll be allowed to rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three updates in three days...  
> It is...  
> Possible.


	23. Restitution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where a golden glow should be contained in lush greenery, they find it shrunken. Withered.  
> Dying.
> 
> Like the green that remained on the outside was nothing more than a mask to hide what illness grew within.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I doubt anyone reading this to this point hasn’t gotten through act iii on their own, but just in case....  
> Major act iii spoilers below and to come in the following chapters.

Leaving home this time around sparks an odd sort of nostalgia as El and Erik both take to the sky.

It’s familiar, but for all the wrong reasons. 

He knows that this time around he isn’t going to be tossed into the dungeons, shackled and silenced until a thief in filthy armor comes to his aid, and he isn’t leaving to rebuild his team from the ground up. 

For all these reasons, for the real reason they are leaving, he should be scared.

He should feel anything other than what he did. 

But leaving off with Erik…

It felt more like home than the past few months had.

Only just about two years since between the first day El had set off and now…

And he couldn’t be sure if it felt like too little or too much time had passed.

Taking to the air, cold bite to the winter air or not… There never had been anything quite like it, and while once he’d been content with the mountains around Cobblestone, now that he had seen what the world had to offer, he felt confined in the little village. 

He needed the open sky. 

And now that he had it, now that he had a destination, it almost felt as though he could breathe easier.

Soon to be passing by towns and cities they had once visited together, El recalled the promise Erik had once made to him in Lonalulu.  _ You know,  _ he began as he saw Heliodor over the horizon,  _ You once told me that someday we’d be able to go wherever we wanted, whenever we wished, just you, me, and Mia. Once everything was all over. _

Flying above Helidor, the first leg of their new journey, El can’t really see that promise being made good on anytime soon.

Heliodor, while again inhabitable, still mostly lies in ruin.

The downtown is nothing but a garbage heap, and not in the same way it was the last time they visited.

The homes are smashed to pieces, scavenged for material to rebuild the upper levels. 

At least the people are safer and happier in Cobblestone. But… it’s only  _ some  _ of its people that he can make such claims of. 

Some didn’t make it out.

And Cobblestone, bits of the Last Bastion remaining or not, was still a small village. It couldn’t support an entire extra town’s worth of citizens. 

_ It’ll be ready for us someday, if I made that promise, I’ll keep it.  _ Erik says, feeling the negative turn El’s emotions had taken, though looking down on it from above… Getting it back to its former glory feels more like a pipe dream. 

Maybe that’s why Rab chose to settle in Cobblestone over rebuilding Dundrasil. 

Of course, he did want to stay with his family, but at the same time… 

What was the point in expending so much effort to reconstruct a long-fallen Kingdom when there was one that had citizens to house? 

El still couldn’t bring himself to truly grasp being Dundrasil’s prince… 

He knew he’d never make a King, but he still hoped that somewhere down the line, the old ruin would somehow make its way back to glory. 

Lightning cracks in the distance. 

Dark clouds that herald a storm rather than snow. 

_ We need to land.  _ El can feel the static of the approaching storm in the air. 

Though he hadn’t any intentions of making a stop in Heliodor. 

At least, not until they found what they were looking for. 

It’s a little bit behind them now, but not enough for El to think of a different option.  _ Come on, follow me. _

They don’t find their shelter until well after the rain had caught up to them. 

Soaking wet from the rain and freezing cold, they both take on human forms to wait out the rain. 

Erik wouldn’t recognize the little alcove that El has chosen… But even if he did, he’d probably just call El a sap.

“We could probably get a warm room up at the castle.” Erik points out as El wrings water from his hair. “Jade and Hendrik would be happy to see us.”

It wasn’t as though El didn’t want to see their friends, or want a dry and comfortable place to sleep. 

But he knew if they turned up, everyone would want to know why, and the two of them were hardly good liars.

And there wasn’t any way that they would be left to continue their journey on their own. 

“We could.” El said, voice raising high so that he could be heard over the roar of the waterfall, but he didn’t act on leaving the cave, rather sitting down on the earthen floor, and stretched out one wing, waiting for Erik to join him.

It had taken some trial and error to figure out how they fit together with the new additions, and while they still hadn’t gotten it completely figured out, it was close enough.

Even if  _ one  _ of them always ended up with cramping wings.

Erik took the invitation, pulling his own wings in close to his back as he settled against El’s side, tail twining with his.

He laid his head on El’s shoulder, who ever so kindly didn’t mention the horn pressing into his neck. He never did, anymore.

Not after the last time, in which Erik had quite seriously asked how painful losing his horn was, and how difficult he thought it would be to get rid of his own.

“I don’t want to take them away from their duties.” El said, closing his eyes as he began to warm up. “But if you want to go-”

“No.” Erik answered right away, “You’re right. They’ve got better things to do, now. And… I like it better this way, anyhow.”

Just the two of them.

Like it once was.

And like this, even on a hard stone floor, he finds that sleep comes easy. 

He’d slept rougher before, anyway. Just having Erik there with him made it easier.

But though sleep came easy, that didn’t mean it was sweet. 

El opened his eyes, but the world around him was blurred.

His wings felt like lead, and the ground beneath his body rocked as if he was on a boat. 

High-pitched ringing in his ears, the turning of gears growing louder and louder with each click, and yet  _ still  _ being overshadowed by the whispering in his ears.

Thousands of voices, indistinct from one another, indecipherable, and furious. 

_ I can’t understand…  _ El begged with the phantom voices, aware he was dreaming, but everything feeling all too real. 

Black eyes now visible through the haze of gold and teal, a glowing white face looking impassively down on his prone form. 

_ Luminary…  _ One voice amid the chaos that made sense.  _ The Time has come. _

And with nothing more, El was again awake.

Sitting upright in a cold sweat, the first thing that grounded him was seeing Erik up and moving about as well, peering out from the enterance to the cave. 

“Same dream?” He asked, not turning around, but sensing his quivering nerves. 

“Yeah.” El answered easily, coming to stand on shaking legs.

He didn’t know why the visions left him so unsettled. 

It wasn’t as though he was being hurt in any of them. If anyone he knew was, either.

But still…

He turned down any offer of a morning meal.

More flight.

He could take that.

More busywork.

~~ 

They avoided coming too close to any other towns, lest rumors begin of the Luminary traveling near alone began to spread, but once Heliodor was behind them, there wasn’t much left to steer clear of. 

Mountains and empty land.

Rubble and the… Crater that Yggdrasil floated above. 

Seeing the smoke and fire still burning, so long after the disaster, and the choking smog that rises from it. 

Even with the rains…

It doesn’t look like it’s been smothered at all.

And in fact…

With the winds and weather… It could very well begin to spread.

But that wasn’t yet what they were here to address.

Samples of the brimstone and living flame had already been taken to both Arboria and to Sniflheim for study.

Until it was figured out, there wasn’t much the Luminary, or anyone for that matter, could do to fix it.

Instead…

El didn’t bother landing for a moment’s rest, if that would even be possible down there. 

_ I hate flying.  _ Erik grumbles, more to himself than to El as they come to land on Yggdrasil’s soil.

_ You don’t hate flying.  _ El tells him as they walk through the yellowing leaves and drying grass of the World Tree.

He keeps talking… Just to keep from panicking. 

“Yes I do.” Erik insisted, breaking the oppressive silence around them. “I hate when  _ I’m  _ the one doing the flying. I don’t mind when it’s you carrying me around.”

That should be something to poke fun at. 

Something to make him smile, and offer to cart him around on dragonback like some sort of fairytale prince-

But-

He can’t quite bring himself to.

The color change only grows more apparent the further in they tread.

Until at last, they reach where the heart should be.

Where a golden glow should be contained in lush greenery, they find it shrunken. Withered. 

Dying.

Like the green that remained on the outside was nothing more than a mask to hide what illness grew within.

Erik comes to a stop in the center of the clearing, looking around, but not quite seeing. 

As if he was simply missing something that could make it all come together as a trick of the light. As if something was wrong with his eyes. “This… I couldn’t ever…” He trailed off with a shake of his head, unable to even finish. 

El nods wordlessly, but notices in the corner of his eye, the sword of shadows, left right where it had fallen after Mordegon’s death. 

He had decided against taking it with him when they initially left Yggdrasil for multiple reasons.

For a second, he wonders if this is his fault for doing so.

The hilt doesn’t fit perfectly into his hands like the new sword of light. This weapon is heavy, unwieldy, and closer to a club than any actual blade. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine it was the reason for Yggdrasil’s condition.

Except… Underneath it, the grass is still green.

Distorted or not, at its core, it is the sword of light.

As he holds it in his hands, it glows with light, and he and Erik both are plunged into a vision, not unlike one from a Yggdrasil root.

Shown to him in flashes, is a terrible, never-ending winter. Mass graves for those who died of illness, towns empty of people, smoke indistinguishable from snow flurries.

Ash raining down from fires still not burned out. 

A world in ruin.

More than he had seen before.

And… He sees the new sword of light, unmistakably his, stabbed into a plot of freshly churned earth, and left be.

The vision of pure white snow and deathly ash fades, leaving them in the browns and reds of a dying tree, and El’s numb hands still held firm on the sword of shadows. 

Their victory brought Yggdrasil back, but what Mordegon did to Her cannot be so easily cured. 

That can’t be the end, though, can it?

Not after everything…

El wants to give up.

He’s seen his own grave, one among many, how can he find the will to go on when he knows it’s hopeless?

Maybe there will be another Luminary.

A  _ better  _ Luminary, who won’t fail Yggdrasil. The one single task he was put on this earth to achieve. 

“You didn’t fail.” 

El didn’t move from where he’d fallen to his knees.

He didn’t know when he had moved. Didn’t know when the tears had started to fall, or when he’d even spoke aloud.

But what did it  _ matter? _

“Yes,” he argued, “I did.”

He was the one meant to save her in the first place. It was his own fault he hadn’t been ready. His own fault he hadn’t noticed Jasper.

His own fault She fell, his own fault She was sick now.

_ His own fault, his own fault- _

How is he supposed to carry on when  _ that  _ was the future?

_ “Snap out of it!”  _

Erik’s yell was accompanied by a hot flash of anger echoing down their bond, and a hand around his horn, hauling him roughly to his feet.

“Why are you always so goddamned fatalistic? No giving up, no one goes alone, aren’t those the rules we all made?”

“I…” El tries, he really,  _ honestly  _ tries… 

but…

_ Why  _ had he thought this would be easy? Why had he thought any of this at all could ever go easily? In  _ his  _ life?

“I hate flying.” Erik says again, “But I’ll carry your ass if I have to. No. Giving. Up.”

His words are final, but there’s no hiding the tremoring edge of his voice.

He was just as scared as El was.

“You don’t know what happened.” El said softly, understanding for the first time how scared Erik had been back then, when he feared El’s hatred for what happened to Mia.

He almost wished that Erik would hate him now, for what happened to Yggdrasil.

It would make it all so much easier to-

“I don't  _ remember _ what happened.” Erik corrected, “But you all have told me enough times to know that it  _ wasn’t. Your. Fault.”  _

Trading his grip on El’s horn for a tight grasp on his wrist, Erik doesn’t give him a moment’s chance to fall back to the ground, dragging him further back the way they came. “Leave that horrible sword. I don’t trust a damn thing it just showed us. Come on, there’s gotta be something else here.” 

Searching the tree showed them nothing more than the pattern of rot flowing through her branches, the way her leaves are changing, and beginning to fall.

Erik didn’t let him question if that meant people were dying.

If the illness taking people away was truly from the toxic smoke or the lack of good food, or if it was simply their souls falling from Her boughs. 

It is only when they decide to call it a day, when they are ready to make plans to call their group back to arms, when they find one last root, glowing in tandem to El’s mark.

It’s not unlike the vision Krystalinda had once shared with him. Dragons old and young, big and small, of all shapes and colors flying freely in the sky, weaving between clouds, and an entire archipelago of the floating islands. 

It had been said that they had once shared the lands with the watchers. 

The scene ebbed and changed, leaving them instead with the view of a mural, wrapping around in all directions. 

Multiple paintings of the Tree of Life, in full bloom, in Her Fall, and… Even now, half-decayed. 

All surrounded by depictions of tockles, a red sun, and the moon, waxing and waning. 

A mural that they had not seen themselves, but one that they had been told of, nonetheless. 

Sylvando and Serena had found the ruins near Octogonia, and had sent word to them both. 

The light faded on the mural, and they were both left again on Yggdrasil, with more questions, but at the very least, a place to start. 

“Octogonia.” El winced. There had been a reason they had only taken the letter at it’s word, without coming to check the ruins themselves. 

Neither one of them had wanted to go back to that horrible place. 

But it seems now, they don’t have a choice. “We’ll stay away from town.” El offered, “There’s no reason we have to stay in the area longer than it takes to check the ruins.”

Erik let out a deep, clearly frustrated sigh. That hardly helped, knowing that the phantom pain in his side would make an appearance the moment they saw the hellhole, knowing that a new lead or not, going to that place wouldn’t do anything  _ good  _ for El’s fragile mental state.

But it wasn’t as though they had a choice.

At the very least, he could make this trip a little shorter.

El tried not to overuse zoom, fearing becoming lazy. He already had the ability to fly, and unless he needed to cross Erdrea for an emergency, he could get places fast enough with his wings alone. 

And, it had been a shorter trip than they expected. 

Between Erik’s seemingly innate ability to find treasure, he plucked a simple gear from the ground, from where it sat in the snow.

A tockle’s face engraved in gold, an inset with the smallest of precious stones… 

El knew things were about to come to a head. He thought that with zoom cast he’d have been able to ditch the little purple tockle, and so far, it seemed that he had been correct.

All he could see were the more regular tockles, sitting and staring-

Expect for one that moved.

Unfrozen, unlike its fellow creatures, this one was well enough to continue forward.

“See something?” Erik asked, noticing when El turned away, when his eyes focused on something invisible. “A tockle?” He knew it wouldn’t have been anything else, but the thought of the wriggling arms and soulless eyes was enough to make his skin crawl. 

“Just one.” El lied, eyes following it until it stopped at the edge of the ruin, head swiveling back like a bird’s to look back at El. “Heading north. I- I think I need to follow it.”

Erik groans. “Of course you do. Fine, but don’t you think we should find a place to wait out the night, at least? The tockle won’t be going anywhere.”

_ And how do you know that?  _ El wanted to ask, but kept silent. It really hadn’t started moving again, and if it truly did want El to follow… Then this wouldn’t be the last he saw of it. 

~~

El hadn’t planned on the two of them sheltering the night in the ruins of Dundrasil… But it was the closest shelter they could find, aside from Octogonia itself.

_ Do you miss them?  _ Erik asks, interrupting the disjointed flow of El’s thoughts.

El stops.  _ You mean my parents? _

_ Who else would I mean, dummy? _ Erik asked from where he’d settled down in the corner of the room, content to only sit and watch as El gathered up enough kindling for their fire.

_ I… I don’t. Miss, them. I mean.  _ It was the truth, though he almost felt guilty for admitting it.  _ I know they loved me, for the little time they had me. And I do wish they could have lived, but…  _ El pauses, taking the time to carefully pick his words as he stokes the embers to take light on the wood.  _ I had a family, in Mum and Gemma. I was happy with the life I led with them, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  _

The fire taken care of, flames licking into the air and chasing away the chill, El stopped just shy of joining Erik.

_ Is that terrible of me?  _ He didn’t know exactly why he was asking, or why he was asking  _ Erik  _ of all people-

But he did.  _ Does it make me a bad person not to miss them? _

Erik regarded him carefully for a moment, before stretching out a wing, and jerking his head towards it.  _ Get down here. _

_ I don’t remember my parents, and neither does Mia. I don’t know if I would remember them, even if I did have my memories.  _ He began carefully,  _ So I don’t know why you’re asking me. But… I don’t miss something I never had, get it? Maybe I did have them. Or maybe I didn’t. Maybe they were terrible, and Mia and I ran away, or maybe they were wonderful, and we lost them. I  _ can’t  _ know. And… You can’t, either.  _ Erik turned away from the gap in the wall where he’d been staring out into the clear night sky, and met El’s eyes.  _ Does that make me a bad person?  _

Message received, El shook his head. Of course it didn’t. 

_ But you know,  _ Erik continued on,  _ if you really wanna know what living in a castle is like, we could just stay here, live in these ruins, build a hoard of gold, become a local legend.  _

_ We already  _ are  _ a local legend, in case you’ve forgotten.  _ El said, laying his head down on Erik’s back. It was silly, but… Amid everything, this has begun to make him feel just the tiniest bit better.  _ Goodnight, Erik. _

_ Night, El.  _ Erik returned, the night passing dreamless and warm.

But the peace couldn’t ever last.

The tower was all too easy to find, following the little tockle the entire while, until it had stopped being  _ just  _ the one they were following, more and more joining itself ranks until the ground was practically moving with them.

El steps carefully through the crowding Tockles, quietly grateful that Erik cannot see them. 

The Wheel of Time fits perfectly into the door, and any hopes of finding the answer melt away like snow.

Inside- it’s like El had stepped right into one of his dreams. 

Gears and ticking, blues and golds… 

It’s a place unlike anything else, something that had to have come from another world.

The moving platforms to take them from place to place hover above infinity, a drop so deep El cannot see what lays below.

“We could drop a stone.” Erik offers, “Or fly down ourselves.”

Heights hadn’t ever bothered El before. But here…

He didn’t want to know how far down it went. Didn’t want to drop a stone just to listen, and listen… and listen.

Didn’t want to fly so far down into the darkness that he could no longer tell which way was up.

But as for where they needed to go-

Sand fell from the highest platform like from an hourglass, without an end in sight, as if the sand was as infinite as the seconds in eternity. 

As they came to the top, they were greeted not only by the night sky gazing down at them, but a small piece of summer.

Perfect warmth, golden trees in full bloom growing in planters, green grass that held its color even in the dead of winter outside. 

And standing to greet them, something El could only call a tockle, but taller than even he was.

And one that  _ Erik  _ could see.

_ That’s not… That’s not a  _ tockle,  _ is it?  _ He asked, standing almost behind El, and speaking silently, as if he was afraid the tockle would hear.  _ That is what you see walking everywhere? _

_ Not quite.  _ El answered, taking the initiative to move forward, knowing that not one other tockle had ever acted aggressively, so why should this one.  _ I’ve never seen one… so big. _

It spoke before El came to a stop, the voice inside his head.

_ I am… The Timekeeper. The flow of time, the march of destiny… I watch over it, guide it forward. _

“But…” Erik asked aloud, now. “But what  _ are  _ you?”

_ I am just what I say I am. Nothing more.  _ It answered easily, moving on without anything further.  _ But you have not come here, Luminary, to ask simple questions... You are here about Almighty Yggdrasil... How to cure Her plight, are you not? _

“That’s right.” El swallowed against the uneasiness in his stomach, a feeling he couldn’t tell was his or Erik’s. 

_ Then you are here for Time’s Sphere.  _ The Timekeeper, moving as if slowed down by a higher force, gestured to the pedestal behind it,  _ With its power… You could prevent her illness from ever happening. But know this… To lose time is to lose much. The path you propose to follow is not one to be trodden lightly. _

“To... ‘Lose time?’”

The Timekeeper turned, gliding across the floor the stand behind the sphere, El following as if entranced, and Erik following suit, much more carefully. 

_ Time’s sphere is the crystallization of all that has taken place since memory began… Each moment gathered by the spirits of lost time… the beings you know as ‘tockles.’ Each moment gathered, savored… Remembered. To take sword to the sphere would be to erase those memories, to stop those events from ever taking place… To return to the time of the last intact memory… _

_ If you wish to prevent Yggdrasil’s illness, you must prevent her infection entirely… Time itself must be destroyed. As I say… To lose time is to lose much. _

“That can’t…” Erik shook his head, “Is there another way?” Voicing the same question that El had.

Turning back time?

It sounded like a fairytale. Like the stories told to make children think through their actions, to try and teach them that an action made can never be unmade, before they are taught the same lesson through a mistake.

_ It is possible… That She may heal with time, but it is equally so… That She may not.  _

The outcome just as certain as flipping a coin. 

_ But She is also Eternal. If Yggdrasil dies, then a Sapling will be born to grow in her place.  _

“So, we just have to wait?” Erik asked, “That isn’t too bad, we just need to prepare-”

_ Make no mistake,  _ the Timekeeper warns,  _ The world without Yggdrasil is a dark one indeed, and for a Sapling to grow it would take so much time… There is no proper word in your language to describe.  _

“El,” Erik feels the exact moment El resigns himself to this choice. “You don’t have to make a decision right now. We can wait, see if Yggdrasil will heal.”

But El feels as though the choice  _ does  _ have to be made here and now. And- it isn’t much of a choice, is it?

He thinks of everyone’s newfound, if not fragile, happiness. 

How it hangs by a thread. 

If Yggdrasil withers…

It really isn’t a choice at all.

Even beyond Yggdrasil…

This is a second chance. A fresh start. With this… 

All the people lost to Her fall… Everyone from the many of downtown Heliodor, the infant dragonspawn of Arboria,  _ Veronica… _

If there’s half a chance, he has to try.

“I’ll go.”

They all will, El is sure. “We just need a little time. We know where Rab is, Jade and Hendrik, too.” It won’t be too hard to gather everyone, even finding Sylvando and Serena won’t be too difficult, all they’ll have to do is follow the rumors about the parade-

The timekeeper interrupts him, raising a single hand to the air between them.

_ Only the Luminary may go... Only a single soul, blessed be by the World Tree may travel the time stream, may wield the holy weapon capable of turning back time. _

El freezes.

That-

He can’t do  _ that! _

In more ways than one… 

He can’t go back alone at all.

How would he know he’d even survive, leaving Erik here?

Of course, there was the one in the past. The one with all his memories, the one with their old bond, but…

Was El even still bonded to that Erik?

That Erik, that hadn’t been there for him through the worst of his curse. The Erik that didn't spend hours teaching to fly. Teaching to  _ walk  _ again after his change...

“El…” Erik started slowly up to the pedestal, and while El knew he had taken his hand… He could hardly feel it. 

What kind of decision-

The Timekeeper, as if for the first time, truly  _ sees  _ Erik. Gliding just a little further around the sphere, closer to where the two stand, they lean down, pitch dark eyes staring unblinkingly at the two.

Erik takes a sudden step back, pulling away from the abnormal tockle, and doing his best to pull El with him. 

_ Get  _ away  _ from it!  _

_ I hadn’t noticed…  _ It said, voice still as emotionless as before… But there was something about it that now almost seemed forlorn.  _ A dragon’s bond… I stand corrected… Luminary, you both may travel back as one.  _

But El holds his ground against Erik’s pull. “How?” He asks the Timekeeper, “What’s different?” How can he know that Erik would be safe?

_ Your souls… Are bonded, are they not?  _ The Timekeeper’s head straightens, and it pulls back to its full height, away from the two dragons.  _ Yes… I can sense it. Twice over, the two of you have bonded… You souls are completely entwined. You can travel back together… You may only travel back together. There wouldn’t be any other option.  _

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Erik asks one last time, but knows the answer he will hear.

“I don’t have a choice.”

“I’m not just asking the Luminary.” Erik says. “I’m asking El, if this is the choice  _ he  _ wants to make. There… We might find another way to save Her.”

“I-” El steels himself. “Yeah. I’m sure.” Even on the possibility they  _ could  _ find another way, that Yggdrasil  _ might not  _ perish… It wasn’t worth the risk.

No matter what, he had to go.

Erik grins at him, but it’s shaky. Terrified, he tries to joke. “I guess we’ll be gone a little longer than three weeks.”

That forces a sudden laugh from El, though it’s more depressing than funny. 

“Maybe we should say good-bye to everyone.” He suggests, but knows that it would be only detrimental to their plan.

_ We go together, or not at all. _

They’d be breaking that little promise that had followed them from the start. 

But if it was for everyone’s sake…

And, if all went accordingly, they’d be back together soon enough.

“We already did.” Erik answered back. 

So many times since they all went their separate ways. 

It would have to be enough. 

_ One final warning… The shattering of the sphere… It is impossible to foresee, impossible to reverse… This time, this reality… It will be lost to all but your own memory. I cannot tell you where in time you will wake. _

_ Knowing this… Are you still willing to risk all? _

Again. It isn’t a choice. “I am.” El answers anyway, finding that Erik spoke the same alongside him.

_ Then the decision is made… Step forward, Luminary… And into the past... _

One hand each on the hilt of the sword of light, together they raised it high.

Together, or not at all, they would take this risk.

“This won’t be good-bye.” Erik says, caught up in the same freeze that El felt, a need to stay hovering in this single moment of indecision forever. “Not by a long shot.”

Together, they bring the blade down, and it shatters and splinters along with the time sphere. 

No going back now.

Brilliant, glowing light — identical to that from El’s dreams — lights up around them, and the ground begins to shake. 

This time already crumbling without anything to hold it together.

_ See you on the other side!  _

It was as if he was seeing and hearing everything from the start of his journey all at once.

From Cobblestone to the Tower of Lost Time itself-

Every action, every choice he made, every friend he collected along the way.

Until he saw what had to be an end.

Pure white.

Just like snow.

Just like… What had to have been the last time he and Erik were both happy together… Before he had failed Erdrea. 

As the memories and momentary farewells finally faded, the teals and golds of the broken time stream gave way to the more natural light of day…

Staying awake was an uphill battle that El was losing.

The sound of waves crashing onto rocks, seagulls calling, and distantly the sound of a bustling city…

But it was the chill in the air that gave away their location.

_ Sniflheim.  _

Of course they were in Sniflheim.

El wanted to laugh.

Or — maybe he needed to cry. 

These days, it was hard to tell the difference.

But it hardly mattered.

These days, those days — he didn’t know which it was. 

All that mattered, was that it  _ worked. _

“El!” 

The edges of his vision were blurring, and it was only getting harder and harder to keep them open.

Damn the snow and ice-

_ “El!” _

He could just barely make out Erik’s face as sleep claimed it’s victory.

Funny… El could swear he saw something missing.

“Come on, come on!” Erik sounded terrified. El wanted to speak, to tell him that it was okay. That he was okay, but no words came. “Don’t do this to me now!”

_ Come on, Firefly! _

_ Firefly! _


	24. Forgiven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> El had done it.  
> Whether intentional or not, they’d both done what they’d promised. He’d found El, and El had restored what was his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter... that had to get chopped in half to prevent this chapter from becoming 10k words long.  
> BUT! That means that chapter 25 is already half done!

Back and forth, strength growing and ebbing with the beating of his own heart and the movement of the waves below them, it’s as if the bond is alive, with a mind of its own.

Each time he thinks it’s settled down, the power steadying, it jolts right back to one extreme or another. The fluctuations aren’t due to El’s unconsciousness, Erik knows.

El is going to be just fine.

The change is coming from his own end.

Erik sits on the floor of his and El’s shared cabin, while El sleeps.

After the initial panic wore off, he came to realize that it was exhaustion, plain and simple, that had made El pass out.

He’d been pushing himself too hard, refusing to rest or eat enough, and with the jump…

It was simply the final straw.

He just needed rest.

Nothing more.

But  _ Erik,  _ on the other hand.

Staring down at his shaking hands, he can’t tell what was real and what was fake.

Had-

It  _ couldn’t  _ have been a dream. 

It was too vivid-

And… He didn’t have this scar, before.

But what of everything else?

He could feel fangs in his mouth, and his tunic has clearly been modified, to say the absolute least.

The back open and the sleeves missing…

It was all blurring together…

Erik stands on unsteady legs. 

So little he could make out for sure. 

But the rock of their ship beneath his feet calms him.

It’s something consistent between both the world he knows… and the world he now remembers.

Except… Which world is which?

The memories he’d given up… the ones El had cried over… apologizing again and again for being unable to get them back.

And yet… Here it all was, the good and the bad.

El had done it.

Whether intentional or not, they’d both done what they’d promised. He’d found El, and El had restored what was his.

And now… Erik owed him an apology.

As soon as he woke up.

But… Until then, there were a few things he needed to do.

It was just simple things… Finding some proper clothing, for one. Mopping up the snowmelt.

And most importantly… Trying to get his own head on straight.

The memories come slow, now. Called up not by any active searching, but from simple action. 

He knows that the blanket doesn’t do much of anything to warm El, but that the weight is a comfort. Pulling the corner up over the dragon’s shoulder, another new one sprang to mind. 

He saw his own hands moving the blankets up over El’s shoulder in the same manner,though El wasn’t quite asleep.

They’d learned only a night after Mordegon’s defeat that while it  _ did  _ take much more to get a dragon drunk, thanks to both the extra body mass and his naturally slower heart rate, that it was indeed possible.

El would wake each morning groaning and sick, mumbling the same vow to never again touch wine or ale or whatever the town they had been checking in on had celebrated with… But as soon as his headache faded and they reached the next village that wanted to thank the Luminary… His promise was always soon forgotten, and each morning Erik, who had learned himself to be a lightweight and gone easy ever since, would wake and care for the dragon until he hadn’t a choice but to drag him out of bed. 

The shuffle of El’s wings and the sight of the cut-out back of what  _ once  _ was a whole tunic called up the sight of grass and trees from high above the ground, animals and people alike the size of ants. 

Such a sight wasn’t  _ so  _ unusual. He’d been up in the sky enough times on El’s back, but there was one single detail that changed it all.

Moving with them on the ground, were two separate shadows.

Two dragons, flying side by side. 

But it was the last that came to mind that stopped him in his tracks. Somehow even seeing the undeniable proof that somehow he’d become just like El didn’t call him off guard as much as knowing what all they had left behind.

Sunlight streaming in through thin cloth curtains, still early morning but the sun just high enough to wake him, and the feel of the patchwork quilt over his skin.

The smell of only  _ slightly  _ scorched eggs and only  _ lightly  _ burnt toast, all likely from Mia’s growing expeditions into learning to cook.

The way El said good morning to him as he joined the rest of them — the rest of his  _ family  _ — for breakfast. 

That one, complete with Mia snatching the last chunk of cured ham right before he reached for it himself… It brings him to tears.

Out of every memory he could find… El was in them all. From getting the scar on his hand, to the last thing he remembered, the two of them breaking the sphere together…

But he wasn’t always with El in the same way.

He’d forgotten.

Well and truly forgotten  _ everything. _

That… Well, it was to be expected, with the trade that he made. But he still wasn’t prepared for what all it entailed. 

Their bond wasn’t just  _ gone.  _ It was  _ obliterated.  _ A physical agony left in its place. Nothing at all was left. Nothing from before he met El. Not even his own name.

But, it was all okay. Because of El.

Because of that little journal he’d decided to lift from Arboria, because of that necklace-

He knew who he was looking for, and because El was El, all over again he managed to fall in love with the Luminary.

And El had waited.

Not a single second spared to wonder if it was worth it, if  _ Erik  _ was worth waiting for. Only his own comfort and safety. 

Again, everything is stopped. All he can do is cry. Stepping outside just in case El wakes.

So close. So  _ close  _ they came to losing  _ everything-  _ and so close they were, still.

“Erik?”

Freezing in place, Erik only scarcely managed to stop crying, to dry his face before he returned to their cabin.

“Hey,” Erik kneeled down next to the bed, speaking lowly just in case El wasn’t ready to wake. If he needed to, he could come up with a good enough excuse for his absence. “How’re you feeling?” 

El ignored his question. Eyes focusing on his face, recognizing what was missing, he was alert in seconds, “It… worked?”

“It did.” Erik told him, “We’re in Sniflheim. Just before the Banquet with Queen Frysabel, I think.”

“Just before Arboria, then.” El says. Then, he catches what Erik said. “Erik, do you-“ His eyes are bright, and Erik can feel just how high his hopes are, unable to push them down.

“I’ve got a lot to thank you for.” Erik doesn’t answer his question, at least, not directly. “But first — I want to apologize. I was a real dick to you, when all you wanted to do was help. And… I think I’m ready to tell you the truth.”

El didn’t speak, but his hope didn't waver. 

“I know I haven’t exactly been forthcoming with my past… And you never pressed. I really do appreciate that, and…” Erik shuddered out a breathless laugh. He’d had a speech planned, but really. It just felt silly. “But I need your help. I made a mistake, years ago. And the sister I told you about? She isn’t sick. Not exactly. But… I still think you can help.”

“Erik-“ El cuts in, beginning to look concerned, “You’ve been crying.”

Erik couldn’t stop now. “It’s just that… She was all I had growing up, you know? I don’t remember much about our parents, and being raised by the Vikings… We didn’t exactly have a lot of opportunities to make friends. I love her more than anything, and even if seeing what happened makes you hate me… I have to try.” He knows that El will help. He  _ knows  _ that his dragon wouldn’t ever hate him. But it’s what he should have said before. 

“Erik-“ El begins slowly, the hope only just starting to diminish, sounding so unsure of himself. He’d travelled back with Erik, he knew he had. And that was  _ this  _ Erik, no mistake. And yet… “I- I already know about Mia.”

“I  _ know that.”  _ Erik says. “I was just thinking… This is a second chance for everyone, isn’t it?” Erik looked down at his ungloved hands, eyes tracing the scar. Trying to place what was so familiar about it. “We didn’t really have much of a choice before… So this time, I’m telling the truth now. Like we promised.” So many they’d ended up making. So many they both broke. But this was a fresh start. This time, they’d keep them. “No more senseless heroics, no more keeping secrets. Together, or not at all.” Each one of them. Erik looked back up, and was wholly unprepared to be tackled to the floor.

_ “You remember!”  _ El’s voice cracked, but he wasn’t trying to stop himself from crying. Little things like that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

He knew this moment, knew what it was before, and this time they had to spare before anyone would worry as to their whereabouts. And right now… They both had the time to simply stop, and breathe. 

“All of it?” El asks, letting go of Erik and pushing up off the wooden floor, but still suspended above him, as if he couldn’t bear to move any further away. “You know everything that happened?”

“Some is it’s still coming back.” Erik explained. “But… I think I do. I remember escaping with you. And finding everyone. I remember- I remember Yggdrasil. Giving up my memories to escape.”  _ Everything.  _ The details still hazy, little things missing, taking their time to come back. But… “I remember. I gave it all up for you.”

“I know.” El said, finally allowing Erik up off the floor, and offering Erik a hand back up to his feet.

As he accepted the help, again the scar on his hand caught his eye, and this time he was able to place what was so familiar about it.

“When I gave them up,” Erik began, still looking down at the mark, “I saw so many of the memories I was giving up, flashing before my eyes.”

“I’m so sorry.” El said, keeping Erik’s hand in his own. “You shouldn’t have had to go through all this. If I’d just-”

“But the last thing I saw wasn’t a memory.” Erik cut him off, not giving him the chance to start down that road again. “It never happened. Or - it  _ hasn’t  _ yet.” It feels strange to explain the odd hallucination, with the basket and the summer day in Cobblestone. Could that have been their life, had Yggdrasil not become ill? “Do you think that could have been real? Or just a fever dream?”

El took a moment to think, unwilling to give a concrete answer, but wishing the simple domestic dream to be real all the same. Missing the simple life they thought they would lead before the winter began. “I don’t know. But if it was the seer… I don’t see why they couldn’t have given you a look into the future.”

It wasn’t much of a divination, but it was enough.

If they could believe it was real- that again they would have that simple happiness… 

It would have to be enough for now.

All they had to do was make a plan.

All they had to do now… Was figure out how to move on from this little bubble of peace.

“How are we going to do this?” Erik asks, watching as El trades out his purple duster for the heat-enchanted coat he’d been made the first time they came through Sniflheim. There wouldn’t be any explaining the rushed patch job over his chest. “Are we going to tell them the truth? Or…” He trailed off. He didn’t really want to lie to them, about anything.

But at the same time, he couldn’t imagine telling them the truth.

“I don’t think we’ll have a choice.” El sighed, reaching up a hand to tap on his still half-missing horn. So much about them had changed, beyond even on a surface level, and their friends were hardly fools. They’d know something had changed right away. “They’d be able to call our bluff. And we need them if we want to make sure nothing goes wrong. But… I don't want to tell them everything. Not about — not about what happened to Veronica. And-“ He cut off as he saw Erik.

As his eyes settled on the scars over his chest and shoulder.

The ones his own teeth had left, Erik realized with a sudden jolt of terror.

El- “And… Not what I did to you. To all of you.”

Octogonia came back in a flash. 

Looking for some magic word to stop the rampaging dragon. 

The piercing pain.

The fear that only sped up his heart, made his blood flow faster around El’s teeth-

And-

_ Vince. _

“You- you  _ killed  _ him.” Erik choked out. 

El wasn’t looking at him anymore. 

Erik felt sick.

How could he- how could he have not  _ been there  _ for him? Giving up his memory- what a selfish thing to do. Gliding through everything without much more than a few scratches. 

While El had to take care of him, while El had to suffer all that happened, while he had to shoulder every action-

“I almost killed Vince back when we first met Rab and Jade.” Erik confessed. “You were out cold, and- I couldn’t stop myself.” Much in the same way El was out of his own control. The same bloodlust. The same rampage. “I had my knives. But I didn’t care. I just started wailing on him until someone pulled me off.”

“You never told me that.”

“I was ashamed.” Erik admitted. “But now? I wish they’d have let me kill him.”

“Don’t say that.” El looked back up.

“It’s true.” If it had meant that El wouldn’t have had to suffer at his hands, he wouldn't have had to shoulder the guilt of his death…

He would’ve bloodied his hands without a second thought. 

Perhaps that should scare him more than it does.

But clearly, El was in the same boat.

Except-

He knew what it felt like.

That was one thing Erik couldn’t claim.

El didn’t respond. Unhappy with the turn their conversation had taken.

One day, they would both have to face what had happened in that other time, but for now, it was enough to push such things to the side. They knew what was to come.

That’s what mattered right now.

Wordlessly, Erik shrugged on his black coat. But when he went to put away what remained of his green tunic, he felt something heavy. 

In the pocket he’d sewn on the inside.

It was a sloppy job, he never had been a decent tailor, but it did the job he needed it for.

And inside… 

Just as he had left it, the little journal, and El’s heirloom necklace. How in the  _ world  _ did he still have that? And the book… Was there an empty slot in that library now, or was he now in possession of a copy?

“I don’t know how I’ve managed to keep it safe so long, but I’ve still got your necklace.”

El glances over to where Erik was holding it out, the deep green pendant hanging between them. “I’ve known you had it.” El says, only stopping once before he accepts it back. 

“Then why didn’t you ever ask for it? Isn’t it important?”

“It is.” El unhooked the delicate clasp, and at last the heirloom came to rest around his neck, the pendant tucked away safely underneath his collar. “But…” He shrugged. “For a while, I didn’t want to see it.”

Erik didn’t need El to justify himself. He was there the whole way, knew exactly why he wouldn’t have wanted to wear it. 

“I’m sorry for making you carry it all this time.”

“You kidding?” Erik smiled, “It’s just a necklace. Not like it was heavy.”

The smile fell away easy enough. Time was running out, and soon enough, everyone would come looking for them. But… 

“Since we’re already late, what would a few more hours be?”

With nothing more than a banquet to lose, and the both of them feeling better than they could recall in recent weeks just from a little bit of rest, they take the risk to free Mia while they have the chance. 

No more waiting.

No more excuses.

This time, there won’t be Gldygga. There won’t be golden sabercats or gold fever.

If they were lucky, there wouldn’t be any trouble at all. 

El already knew the way to the old Viking hideout, and an easy way to get to Erik and Mia’s old home without having to sneak by. 

_ Hold on,  _ El gave Erik only the slightest of warnings before they were both again in the air.

The frigid cold of Sniflheim hardly compared to the winter they had just left behind.

But hopefully, with enough time, that cold would be forgotten, and Sniflheim would be the worst cold they’d have to suffer through. 

Up above the cloud layer, just to be sure they wouldn’t be spotted. 

He knew it hadn’t even been a full day since he had last been so high up in the sky, but somehow it felt as though it had been ages. 

Though… In a way, wide enough the definition might need to be, it had been. 

Hands around El’s horns, clouds blow them and only wingbeats and bird calls around them, he finally felt at home.

So focused on everything he had back, the fear didn’t set in until he was faced with the lock, and Mia was only yards away from him. 

_ Are you ready?  _ El asked him, ready to sit out in the cold until Erik found the courage to move on.  _ If you want, I could go in first- _

“No.” Erik shakes his head. This was something he had to do. He couldn’t leave it to only El to save her. That wasn’t ever the plan. “I’m ready.” 

The lock wasn’t hard to get past. He had no key, having thrown it to the sea not long after he’d first left. That wasn’t ever a foolproof plan to keep his secret hidden, any passing thief worth their salt capable of picking such a simple lock… But it was all he could offer.

But he hadn’t realized he’d be gone so very long. 

The metal had rusted, weakened by constant freezing, and all it took was one good, solid kick to shatter it, and allow the wooden door to creak open. 

Erik steps through, expecting  _ something  _ to have changed as he crossed the threshold… But nothing did.

El followed behind, silent and patient, allowing Erik all the time he needed. 

She changed her mind, in that other world. 

Stood down and gave up the power she’d been given before she could hurt him. Gave up the same that he did, just for the sake of forgiving him.

But the Seer wasn’t here, now. If he was lucky, neither were any of Mordegon’s influences. 

It’s silent, inside that horrible cave. 

Not even the sound of wind to cut through the sound of his own thoughts, the ringing in his ears… 

It was just how he left it. Nothing more than a layer of dust over everything. 

Even…

Even Mia.

Still exactly how he had last seen her.

It would seem as though the simple lock had been more than enough.

Golden light from the mark on El’s hand-

The gold melting away from her like ice-

Moving on instinct as her legs gave way from under her, years spent upright supported by the curse doing nothing to help her now. 

But to his ever-mounting horror- she doesn’t move. 

For one heart-stoppingly terrible moment, he thinks that somehow, this was all a mistake. That maybe she’d been more than frozen.

That the Mia in the other world… That she had been revived. 

That this Mia was simply dead.

_ Erik! _

El’s voice cut through his spiraling panic, and brought him back to reality enough to jog his racing thoughts into line.

She wasn’t dead.

She was breathing.

He could feel her heartbeat, and she had one hand grasped tightly into his jacket.

She was exhausted.

That was all.

“We need to take her back to the palace.” El spoke gently, but the hand on Erik’s shoulder is firm. Keeping him grounded. Asking him to remain in control of himself. “She’s going to be okay.”

“Right.” Erik speaks, but the voice sounds far away. “Right, just-“ But just before he stands, she moves in his arms, saying something quietly.

He barely hears it, and almost thinks it must’ve been his imagination, when she speaks again.

Eyes still closed, exhausted beyond description, cold and scared… “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

“Hey, hey… It’s alright.” Erik tries to comfort her as she begins to cry. “It’s all alright.” 

Panic gone now, Erik let’s her come to slowly, and confess to what she had seen. 

Conscious. 

The entire time. Aware of the slow passage of time, alone and scared. Watching her brother panic. Try whatever he thought he could to bring her back.

Until… It looked like he gave up.

Closing the door on her, leaving her in the darkness, and escaping their shared hell alone.

At least…

Until the darkness of the cave around her began to light up. 

She hadn’t been completely alone. Completely without hope. 

Coming in short flashes, Mia saw his journey. She saw the struggles he had. Saw the time he met the seer. The lowest he’d been, fallen in the mud, in the snow.

The length he went to try and hide his past… The friends made and been betrayed by.

Losing hope with him as he was thrown in the dungeon.

Gaining it back when he met El.

She wanted to hate him, for a little while.

Jealous of the people he’d met and the places he’d seen.

The companionship he had while she rotted away.

But that was less of her own feelings, and the work of the terrible voice in her head feeding her lies about being abandoned.

Sweet half-truths and pitiful lies about how Erik wasn’t going to come back.

Terrible nightmares the creature would show her. 

Terrible nightmares… That Erik now remembered.

Mordegon. He recognized the voice now. Taunting her mind, pulling her closer to his own clutches.

But Mia fought him just as hard as Erik did.

Losing to him only…

Only when she believed him to be dead.

Erik listens quietly, responding only when prompted, only when she needs to know that he  _ is  _ listening. Glad for how open she’s being, glad for how exhausted she is. Not needing to take the time to introduce El, or worry for how their flight will be. Eyes still closed, wrapped tight in the old threadbare blanket from their bed, she doesn’t notice the takeoff. Doesn’t notice the chill.

Doesn’t notice the landing.

“Where have you been?” Veronica demands to know.

“What in the-“ Sylvando cuts off as he catches sight of a second head of all too vibrant blue hair.

“Who  _ is  _ that?” Jade asks, grabbing hold of El’s hand before he can rush inside after Erik.

Erik ignores it all.

Trusting El to say as little as possible to sate their friends worry, and leave it up to Erik to divulge as much as he would choose.

He hardly notices what happened between the gates of the castle, and getting Mia settled into a sickbed. 

But praise be unto Yggdrasil, or however the prayer goes, all Mia needed was rest, water, and a good meal. 

Hours pass before she’s ready to speak again, but Erik doesn’t leave her side.

And he knows it will be even harder to leave, now.

“I forgive you.”

She had said, no prompting needed.

She knew that he had blamed himself. Though she didn’t share the sentiment that it was his fault, instead blaming everything entirely on the cursed necklace that El would be giving shortly to Snorri and the Queen for safekeeping, she knew that nothing else she could say would have the same effect.

It didn’t matter to him if she blamed him, or if anyone else did.

Because, simply enough,  _ he  _ blamed himself, and only her giving him that forgiveness could ever begin to chip away at what that had done to Erik.

They’re out of time.

She’s unwell, and she needs help. Erik can’t stay with her, and much as it pains him, he has to leave her behind at the castle.

They’ll be leaving for Arboria come morning.

“We’ll be home, soon enough.” Erik tells her, placing a hand gently on the top of her head. She isn’t so fragile, he knows. But he’s still afraid that she’s too weak for even this much. It took months of physical therapy to get her back on her feet before. “I promise.”

“I don’t want to go home.” Mia argues. “I never want to see that hovel again.”

“That isn’t home. That wasn’t ever home.” Erik explains, fighting away his own surprise. He… He hadn't had a home before.  _ Home  _ was something other people had.  _ Home  _ was the Sniflheim area, not his… But where he was from. 

But that wasn’t what he meant now.

“Then where?” Mia pressed, sounding just as confused as she looked.

“It’s called Cobblestone.” Erik said, and… Shit. He should’ve checked with El first. Made sure he was still going to be welcome in their — in  _ El’s  _ — house after all this was over. Everything had changed and… 

Again, memories of his life in Cobblestone swept through his mind.

Helping plant for the harvest… It had been such simple, methodical work. Erik had thought it was going to remain so.

But as the days passed and the young plantlife required more and more attention, checking leaves for illness and caterpillars, moving stakes to help taller plants grow…

It was rewarding to see it all grow.

But more than that, he just enjoyed the time he was able to spend safely. Quietly. With everyone.

And it was all ripped away.

“It’s quiet, it’s in the mountains south of Heliodor, and even close to the ocean. It’s warm there. You’ll-“  _ Don’t make promises you can’t keep.  _ “You’ll love it there.”

“But, I…” Mia starts to yell, and for a second, Erik thinks she’s going to argue further. But she just throws her hands up in the air and gives in. “Fine! But when you get back you’re gonna  _ owe  _ me!”

“I already do.” Erik says. And the smug look on her face melts away.

“Just promise me you’ll be careful?” She asks.

For a moment, Erik’s mind flashes back to making the same promise to a different Mia. One that hardly knew him. One with wings and fangs…

He can’t see any dragon-ness in her now, but… 

He knows it’s there. Buried down deep… but still there.

For a moment… He wonders if something could trigger it. Bring it back to the forefront.

He remembers how she enjoyed flight, how much she loved going on trips with him and El…

But. She can still do that as a human.

He doesn’t want her to change. To go through everything that he had to. That she once did.

Or, at least- If there  _ was  _ a trigger, if there was a way to make her dragonspawn again… He at least wanted her to make her own choice.

“I’ll be careful.” After all… This was his second chance. There wasn’t any way he was going to waste it.


	25. Mercy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> El saw him staring down thoughtfully at the little creature in his arms.  
> “...Wouldn’t it be something.” He said, just under his breath.

Everything was cold.

But that was really his own fault. He should’ve insisted on going to rest sooner, but everyone’s questions did come first. He didn’t want them to barge in on Erik and demand explanations while he was just trying to make sure Mia was safe and well.

But even the cold wasn’t enough to ruin this.

He couldn’t have imagined the jump back in time could’ve led to this.

Even standing there in the tower of time… He had thought that somehow he’d be thrown back into a world suffering just as much as the one he’d been in.

How easily he forgot…

He called that time peaceful, but in truth, it hadn’t been. Even if there was no horrid villain, and no one was fighting… People were still suffering.

But here and now, before the fall?

This felt more like peace than his victory had. 

It almost made him stop.

Mordegon couldn’t retrieve the sword of light without him.

Would it be better to give up and go into hiding?

An irrational part of him told El yes.

But he wasn’t stupid. Even if he hid, there was no telling how long that would last, or if Mordegon would find another way.

He had to fight.

But now it felt like there was at least a world to fight to protect.

And not only that. As selfish as it may be, at long, long last, he had Erik back.

In full, memories still slowly trickling back to him, but sure enough they would all return. 

El hardly knew what to think of it. But didn’t care enough to wonder.

It was a blessing he wasn’t willing to look too closely at, thankful that it happened at all. 

And with that blessing, came their first victory. 

Mia, returned to them without corruption. Without a fight, with her memory intact as well. 

Lost in thought, and almost feeling light enough to fly without any effort, El was entirely unprepared for the vice grip around the thinnest part of his tail.

But. To be fair, he wasn’t ever quite prepared for that. 

Tail held in her hand just below the spine, there wasn’t much El could do to move away, or get his tail back without hurting either of them.

“So you and your little bondmate went on a little adventure without telling anyone?”

Well. If there was one person he hadn’t taken into consideration. 

She wasn’t even trying to hide the way she was scanning him, noticing all the little things that had changed in the last few hours since she’d seen him. The horn, new scars, the purplish tint to his eyes that was all that remained of the red curse-

“How old did you say you were, again?”

“I-“ El cut off, about to answer honestly. 

She wasn’t looking him in the eye. Instead, focused on the faint patterns showing on his scales. Stripes and swirls and star spots that hadn’t been there two years before. “Twenty.”

She hummed, but didn’t comment. “A little young for your markings to come in.”

“Is it?” El asked, glad for the issue she was taking to be something he at least had some vague understanding of. “That all started showing up recently.” He only half-lied. 

“You’re very young for your adult patterns.” She said, as if she was testing his bluff. But Krystalinda has told him the same thing before. The markings were early, but that wasn’t anything to mull too hard over.

He just shrugged, like it didn’t bother him. 

She let go of his tail. “Early bloomer, I suppose.”

But she didn’t leave.

And El had a terrible idea. Knowing they may give him away, he had a few questions.

~~

Erik has been prepared to be intercepted the moment he left Mia’s room, but he hadn’t expected it quite like this.

He’d expected them all to be furious with him, even after speaking with El, possibly even  _ more  _ upset after that, actually, but instead… 

Only Veronica and Serena are there waiting for him. 

“What did he tell you?” Erik asked before Veronica could go off on a tirade, before he could slip up and say too much. 

“That she’s your sister, that she’s sick, and it much else.” Veronica answered, still scowling from her unsuccessful attempt to drag more information out of El. 

“There wasn’t much else to tell.” Erik nearly folded over in relief, it was bad enough that El knew all the gruesome details… He could trust El with him. He could trust everyone else with them… But that hardly meant he wanted to share them. “Where is El?”

“That’s it? You thought running off on a rescue mission without even a little bit of backup was a good idea?”

Yes. He did. And clearly, it was. Seeing how Mia would be perfectly fine in only a matter of days — but he wasn’t looking to get a lecture. Erik shrugged. “I knew where she was, and it wasn’t like we had to fight our way there.”

“But how could you have  _ known  _ that?” Serena sounded distressed, almost looking like she wanted to cry. “We were so worried when you didn’t come back, and then we couldn’t find you… You couldn’t at least have told us you were going?”

Now there was one way to make him feel like an ass. 

But- he couldn’t have told them. Serena could say all she wanted that they would’ve stayed… But he knew they wouldn’t have listened. 

As he only remains silent, Veronica lets out an exaggerated groan of frustration. “Whatever. Don’t tell us anything! It’s not like we’re worried or anything!”

“I’m fine.” 

“You’re not.” Erik looks up, surprised to see Serena being the one to call him out for lying. “I don’t care why you thought it was a good idea to go out on your own. I just want to know you won’t do it again. I’m glad your sister is safe now. But El was an icicle when he got back, and I’m sure you aren’t faring any better.”

For a moment… She looks entirely different. “Your hair-“ Erik begins to speak before he can help himself. A flash of Serena as she was before — no — as she  _ could  _ be, hair shorn to the roots, a terrible grief in her eyes.

But that wasn’t this Serena.

They wouldn’t let that happen, this time. 

“My hair?” Serena asked, running a hand through it. “What about it? Is there something in it?”

“No, it looks fine to me.” Veronica said, both siblings looking to Erik, and he realized he was going to have to say  _ something.  _

“It- It just looks nice.” Erik could feel the sudden flush on his face. What a reason.

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Serena asked, just as Veronica barked out a loud laugh. 

“Don’t you already have El?” She asked, “Don’t go after my sister now, too.”

“I-  _ I’m not!”  _

“Perhaps you should just go and rest.” Serena advised. “I’ll come by with something for the both of you to eat, soon.”

“Yeah,” Erik agreed easily enough, ready to just get away from everyone for a bit. Sort out his thoughts. Hopefully enough so that he didn’t embarrass himself again.

He heard Veronica whispering to her sister as he left the room, but didn’t care enough to turn around or stop to listen in. 

There was only so much he could take in a single day.

But the walk through the palace was all too familiar, even if it was earlier, and this time he  _ didn’t  _ have a tipsy dragon hanging off his arm. 

With the door to the room they’d been given closed behind him, he almost felt like he could breathe again.

So far, so good.

And as to the sight he was greeted with… “Comfy?” Erik asked the vaguely dragon-shaped lump of blankets by the fire.

_ Very much.  _ The lump answered back. 

“Got room for one more?” 

_ I might.  _ The lump said, and lifted the corner of the blanket wrapped around him, giving Erik the space to join in.

It was different than the banquet from before, but so much better. 

If there was one thing about being dragonspawn he wouldn’t miss… It was the heat aversion.

He wouldn’t have been able to stand this if he’d remained that way.

Fire roaring, pillows piled on the floor and blankets wrapped around them both, and plates cleaned, they can simply rest. Enjoy the little time they had before they had to face what came next.

“I think I’ll miss the tail.” El responded to Erik’s idle thought, only half-jokingly. Though he turned more serious easily, turning an appraising look at Erik. “I don’t think it’s all gone. You remember everything about… The Fall, and so do I. We both still have the scars we got, too.”

Erik didn’t really want to think about it. Though he knew pretending it all never happened would be the worst way he could possibly go about it. He knew now what it was like to have such a gap in his memory… And he had no plans on doing that again, much less on purpose. “It’s not like that would be a bad thing.”

Nothing more to be said, they left it at that.

They could worry about what was to come in the morning.

After all, first they needed to decide exactly what they were going to say.

~~

Somehow, they managed to avoid questions throughout the morning. There wasn’t one person who couldn’t tell something big had happened, but no one wanted to be the one to ask.

To break the silence. 

And, that was fine.

They had decided what they needed to do, when they needed to come clean, and though the tangible tension in the air was stifling, they could bear it for now.

Making it to Arboria went without a single noticeable difference from the first time through, though if anything, El found himself even more unnerved.

He knew what these people were like, underneath the exterior they presented to everyone around them. 

Feeling small beneath the statue of Serenica, he put on a smile, and forced his way through the introductions. 

He wouldn’t let  _ any  _ town fall into the same ruin they all did before. 

No matter what. 

The infant dragonspawn again presented to him as a  _ good omen…  _

Now it felt nothing more than a grave warning. 

But a warning he now knew to heed.

The child would survive. He would make sure of it.

As Benedictus left, Serena turned to the group. “Would you all mind very much if we waited just a small while? There are a few things I’d like to tie up.”

“Oh, honey don’t you worry!” Sylvando said, “I’m sure we’d all love the chance to look around a bit.”

  
  


“Aye,” Rab nodded, “You go on, lassie, we’ll all meet up here when it’s time to go.”

“Actually-“ Erik stopped her on a whim, “Can we see the baby dragons?”

“How do you know there are babies?” Veronica asked, but she seemed to be the only one holding any suspicion.

Serena, on the other hand, onlylooked delighted.

“Of course!” She clapped her hands together. “I wanted to go and see if any clutches had hatched anyway.” She continued speaking, pointing out the way to the nursery, but El remembered the way well. 

Ducking again through the doorway to the insulated room inside, six tiny dragons lay, peeping and chirping away, asking for attention, for food. 

Serena pushed past him, and plucked one of the babies from the pile, holding it not unlike a cat. “The mother is out hunting right now,” she said, “We have plenty of time before she’s back, here,” Serena pushed the whelp into his arms, and reached down to lift up another, hardly giving poor Erik any time at all to prepare for the fifteen pound ball of scales that latched on to him. “Aren’t they cute?”

The baby began to peep louder,

before going quiet as El held the new life close.

He knew the sounds each baby was making. Somehow, buried deep within his mind, he understood what it was saying. 

It felt safe.

It was happy.

Only one of these whelps had survived Yggdrasil’s fall… Was it the one he was holding?

…it didn’t matter.

They would all survive, this time.

Distracted, taking the time to  _ show  _ Erik the proper way to cradle the baby, Serena didn’t notice the way El’s had gone silent until Erik’s did as well. 

“Oh, how odd,” Serena said, scratching at its cheek, “normally they only quiet down when they’re fed, or when their mother is nearby.”

El glanced at Erik before he could help it, awaiting him to make the same joke he did before, about the dragon’s parentage. Perhaps he’d even make a different one, now that the one he held was silent as well.

But… They hadn’t been fighting, this time. There was no frustration for Erik to break through. And instead… El saw him staring down thoughtfully at the little creature in his arms. 

“...Wouldn’t it be something.” He said, just under his breath. 

“I’m sorry?” Serena stood up straighter, “What was that?”

“Nothing.” Erik said, louder. “Just thinking.”

El didn’t have the time to unpack the implications there, as their stay unfolded the same way it had before, and he was called away to speak to the High Priest, and Erik left to find a library, flipping through the little book he’d picked up on nothing more than a whim before.

The information inside hadn’t been anything groundbreaking. It hadn’t been much that they didn’t already know, or that Krystalinda hadn’t been able to teach them.

But… It was thanks to this little book that Erik knew to look for El at all. 

Placing it back on the single empty space on the shelf, somehow glad to know it was the only one, Erik thanked the author. 

He wasn’t one for prayers, didn’t quite know how one  _ would  _ thank an author they didn’t even know was dead or not, but either way…

Sudo Nim had his gratitude. 

Not wasting any time, Erik hurried to catch up with everyone else.

It wouldn’t be long now, until they had to tell the truth.

~~

  
  
  


Rab was pressing the heels of his hands to his knees, still pained, and in a way that none of their spells could fix.

Erik felt pity for the poor old man. He should be retired somewhere, enjoying the quiet. And yet his life had led him back to the frontlines. 

Hopefully after this, he could find a place to settle-

Erik choked as he realized exactly what had just happened, only scarcely managing not to drop the waterskin, but not quite able to stop himself from spluttering. 

“I’m- I’m okay.” He coughed as El shot him a concerned look, “Just- went down the wrong way.” 

“So,” Veronica broke the quiet, paying no mind to Erik’s sudden coughing fit, “We’ll finally be heading up to Yggdrasil tomorrow. I can’t help but feel a little nervous.”

That- that made him wince. Again and again, Erik found himself having to convince his own mind that it wouldn’t be the same.

“But more importantly,” Veronica said, breaking the pattern, “What is going  _ on  _ with you two?”

“Yeah,” Jade picked up, turning a stern eye on the both of them. “You leave for hours, and come back with a sister you’ve never mentioned, and looking like you’ve been through hell, and then refuse to explain anything.”

“We just want to know what happened.” Rab piped up, as Sylvando nodded along with them all.

It seemed like they all had the same plan.

An intervention staged just when they’d planned to confess. 

“What happened…” Erik took a deep breath, deciding to start off on his own. “Well, ‘hell’ would be a good way to describe it.”

After that… The words come easy enough, even if it hardly sounds plausible at this point. 

_ How could we have lost? We have the Luminary. _

_ Yggdrasil  _ fell?  _ That isn’t possible! _

_ How did we all survive? _

Reasonably skeptical… They all had questions.

Some easier to answer than others.

“Prove it.” Veronica, quiet the entire time, demands. “How can we trust you on this?”

“Veronica!” Serena exclaims, “Don’t be that way! Of course we can trust them.”

“It’s alright.” El said, “We don’t expect you to believe everything we say.”

He was prepared to give them the proof they needed. After all… 

What more proof do they need, than themselves?

For a moment, El almost feels like one of the old farmers back in Cobblestone. The one who would sit outside his home and keep an eye on the children while the rest of the village worked, showing off — what seemed at the time — horrible battle scars. Marks on his thumbs from fishing hooks, a bite around his right ankle from a monster outside the village gates.

Stories to keep them all in line. But the fangs Erik shows to prove his change is no small scar.

His half-missing horn and the starburst scar on his chest was a fair margin more grotesque than a badly healed bite. 

He didn’t show the worst of it, though.

The entry wound had been horrible enough.

They didn’t need to see the exit.

Evidence accepted in quiet horror, together they all make a plan, discussing possibilities and failsafes into the early hours of the morning, and don’t quite manage to sleep.

“You don’t have the sword.” Erik points out, whispering in the dark. “How do you plan on stopping him?”

The sword of light wasn’t the only holy weapon he had at his disposal. Holding one hand out above him, El let electricity crackle at his fingertips. Even if he didn’t manage to get the sword in time… He wasn’t unarmed. “We’re stronger now.” El says. Stronger than Mordegon was with all of Yggdrasil’s power at his disposal, “and this time, we know what to expect.”

~~

Everything was fresh and green, even in the cold of winter, and despite their altitude, it was as warm as the spring thaw. 

If Erik had thought the flora on the land below had been odd… Glowing plants of all shapes and colors, things that would be screaming poison down below may carry unthinkably powerful benefits here, if they only had the time to stop and test them.

Vines and ferns hung from the thick roots and branches crossing all around, and the air was still.

The babble of a small brook could be heard as it rushed along its narrow banks underneath their feet, running clear and fast, but not a single living thing could be seen on its bed. Not a fish, tadpole, or even snail.

This time around, however, it didn’t seem so empty.

Partially because Erik knew they were being followed. And partially…

“Wait- El,” Erik stopped in his tracks, and grabbed the corner of El’s sleeve, nearly missing but not daring to take his eyes away from what they’d settled on. “That- right there-“

El followed where he was looking, just to see a tockle. A regular one, perfectly harmless, sitting on a branch with its arms wrapped around the wood and it’s little feet kicking out to the same silent rhythm they all followed. 

There wasn’t anything else there. “What?”

_ “That’s  _ a tockle?” Erik demanded, turning to face El.

“You can  _ see  _ it?” 

“See… what?” Veronica piped up, glancing between the both of them. “There’s nothing there.”

“It- Right there,” Erik stuttered out, “That-  _ it is a tockle?”  _

“A what?” Veronica asked, just as El confirmed that,  _ yes,  _ the little marshmallow was indeed a tockle.

_ “That’s  _ what I’ve been afraid of?!”

Veronica gives up, stomping to catch up with their group, making a mental note to get the story there later.

El simply smiles.

Erik, feeling entirely a fool, but deep down thankful for the single moment of levity before everything (hopefully didn't) come crashing down.

“Later.” He decided, “I can freak out about this later.”

Brought to the same clearing it all ended, and the end of their world began, its all Erik can do to not be sick.

Though, at least this time he knows to listen to his gut. Use it to give Jade the signal she needs to take Jasper by surprise.

The rest of them hiding in the boughs around, El makes his move.

Again, the vines move away, and El reaches for the sword.

And Erik feels what he can only describe as pure, unfiltered  _ loathing.  _ From his own mind.

Jasper is here, and this time, he isn’t getting away.

Their plan set into motion, but already cast aside in favor of his own instincts.

Jade doesn’t have the opportunity to disarm him.

Erik saw him coming, and the memory of El nearly bleeding to death returns to the front of his mind in full. Hot blood running between his fingers, the feeling of El’s flame flickering out.

Never again.

The dragon that had been awakened before comes back in a heartbeat.

In a matter of seconds, Erik has Jasper pinned to the earthen floor, freezing mist rising from his breath and wings spread wide behind him, 

Ice freezes his armor to the earth below.

The orb Jasper had stolen from the pedestal down below rolls from his grasp.

It wouldn’t be much of a fight without it. 

A strategist rather than a fighter, Jasper isn’t any match for a dragon gone wild.

“H-how in the-“ Jasper tries to speak, but Erik doesn’t care to hear what he has to say. With an inhuman growl, he presses Jasper’s face further into the dirt.

_ He’ll pay. He’ll pay for what he’d done. For  _ everything  _ he’d done. _

“No!” Jasper growls, “This cannot be! I cannot be defeated!”

“Now, what do we have here?” The ice-cold voice stops Erik in his tracks. 

Awareness flooding back.

Realizing what had happened, what he was doing.

Jasper out of the way, but Hendrik and the King here just in time to see him like this.

He didn’t need to see himself to know. The abject terror on El’s face was enough to know his eyes were red again.

“You doubted your comrade-in-arms, Hendrik?” Mordegon asked, “What had Jasper done to merit your suspicions? I see only a victim here.” His eyes left Erik and found the Luminary, sword of light in hand, obtained while Erik took care of Jasper. “A victim of these wretched creatures.”

Perhaps it’s something in the way the King speaks.

Or perhaps it’s more leftover of the time they had left behind. But Hendrik hesitates to take the King’s word as fact.

“I promise you, sure.” Hendrik nearly begs, “Something isn't right here. You must believe me.”

Hendrik’s guard is lowered, and the King is wide open.

“El!” Erik calls before the rampage can take back over,  _ “Now!” _

It isn’t their plan of ambush. It isn’t a holy hymn to expel the dark force possessing Carnelian. But an opening was an opening —

And Jade would understand.

“Master!” Jasper begged, sudden movement enough to push Erik away, “Help me, please!”

Erik shoves him back to the earth, but the King responds. “You have been faithful enough a servant so far… Very well.” 

A pulse of dark magic.

A single second of pitch darkness, and Jasper goes still.

For a moment, Erik believes that Mordegon had killed him.

Replaying everything Jasper had done for him with death.

And that moment is enough.

It happens in less than a heartbeat. 

And the monster Erik sees is all too familiar.

Changed into a monster, just as before.

A poor imitation of the dragonspawn, but the closest Mordegon’s powers can produce.

Hendrik stumbles back in shock, looking between what his old friend had become, and the other two dragonspawn.

Nothing added up.

And nothing was going to plan.

But at the very least-

Erik knew Jasper’s fight. He knew his patterns of attack, knew his weak points.

And flight, it seemed, was still very new to Jasper.

Fighting raged around him, the King’s body abandoned by Mordegon, the old man too fragile to use in a proper fight, worn down by the years of being Mordegon’s host.

Erik should be helping El, fighting at his side- but he couldn’t yet.

Not until Jasper was taken care of. 

It shouldn’t be so easy, and yet it is. Erik gives in to the dragon, and lets it guide him. 

Smaller than his opponent, but so much faster. 

Jasper hardly landing so much as a single hit, but being all too easily whittled down by Erik, and Erik alone.

The knife he’s so used to in one hand, but hardly an advantage when both hands may as well be weapons in their own right. 

Dodge and hit, a swing of the knife followed by a second hit-

Jasper screeches in pain and fury as Erik’s talons catch him in the face, digging in and ripping through skin.

His blood is like acid, burning his skin through his gloves but the pain worth it for the satisfaction he gains from the way Jasper falls to his knees, hands coming to press against his eyes, pointless in the long run, as Erik readies for a final blow.

Vengeance for everything that he had done- blade high above his head and ready to make true on what he had told El.

He would kill for him. For the safety of their world-

But he hasn’t the chance.

It isn’t his blade that falls Jasper low, but Hendrik’s.

The flat of his sword against the back of Jasper’s head, sending him dizzy and unbalanced the rest of the way to the ground, and again, point drives down through his hip to the earth underneath.

Hendrik knew exactly what he was doing.

Too far gone to scream, but stuck. The blade missing anything vital, but keeping the monster stuck where he is.

“This is not your battle to win.” Hendrik says, a clear challenge to Erik, but what little this man knows.

In another time, twice over he had killed Jasper.

But there’s no point in fighting it. If Hendrik wanted to risk a zammle to his back, then so be it.

Erik had other fights to join. 

Or- he thought he did.

But it would seem even with Mordegon, five against one was still had the odds stacked in their favor. 

Mordegon stumbles, trying to drain what little magic he poured into Jasper, leaving him less monstrous but still closer to dragonspawn than human, but that little power is not enough.

Holy lightning, ice and steel, and Mordegon hasn’t anything left to give.

The ground shakes as Mordegon’s form begins to melt away to dust-

But the furious grimace on his face morphs into a sickening grin as something by El’s feet catches his eye. His laugh wet with the blood forcing its way up his throat, he lets go of the last of his life force, and gives in. “I see.” His eyes close for a heartbeat, then snap open, wide and mad. Settling on El, he vanishes.

_ “So be it… But do not think you are the only one who has defied the flow of time.” _

Silence settled.

It was over.

Every last thing they’d risked to come back-

It was worth it.

Somehow… El had to swallow back tears of absolute  _ relief- _

Cheers went up around him. One by one, all but Jasper joined in on celebrating his victory.

And as the sound winded to a close, El found Erik across the clearing, red eyes and wings gone once again, hidden until he needed them once more.

He was doing his best to brush off the worst of the dirt and grass, but gave up easily. 

What was a stain or who when your entire backside was hanging out?

Feeling El’s eyes on him, Erik looked up, and gave a helpless little shrug.

_ This was my last damn shirt. _

And- what else was El supposed to do but laugh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five chapters to go! In the homestretch now!


	26. Belly of the Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It didn’t seem possible, that it could be over so quickly. So easily.   
> Though fighting Mordegon hadn’t been exactly easy, this time or the one that came before, it felt too quiet.   
> But Yggdrasil remained in her proper spot in the sky, not a leaf out of place.  
> Or out of color.

It didn’t feel real.

It didn’t seem possible, that it could be over so quickly. So easily. 

Though fighting Mordegon hadn’t been exactly  _ easy,  _ this time or the one that came before, it felt too quiet. 

But Yggdrasil remained in her proper spot in the sky, not a leaf out of place.

Or out of color.

Erik, so focused on everything happening around him, wasn’t prepared for El to join him. He jumps, startled by the sudden heat on his skin as El’s heat-enchanted coat is draped over his shoulders, providing him with just a little extra dignity. 

Just a little, though. 

The cloak way too big on his thinner frame, and as it was  _ made  _ for someone with wings in mind… Well, once the belt was tied in place the three slats stayed well enough in place. 

“You alright?” El asked, settling down on the ground next to him, as if he couldn’t see for himself. 

A little bruised and bloody, but for the most part alright. More than he can say for most of the scrapes they’d been in. 

And he could even say the same for El for once.

There was a rusty colored smear of drying blood from his nose to his cheek, but he didn’t seem too pained as he moved, an arm pulling Erik in close.

“I’m fine,” Erik answered, meaning it despite the wince at the new pressure against his side. 

One of Jasper’s few good strikes had hit him right in the ribs, and while it didn’t  _ feel  _ broken, it was surely bruised. 

Not too serious. 

And, not too bad, for what it could have been. 

“You sure?” El asked, still not quite trusting Erik to tell the truth while their bond was still stabilizing. And — that was fair, he supposed. 

“I’m fine,” Erik said, “I promise.”

There should be more to say, shouldn’t there? 

But there simply wasn’t. 

They’d succeeded. They’d fixed the mistakes of their past selves, and set the timeline right. 

And now, all they needed to do was wait.

Wait for it to feel real.

From their little vantage point in the clearing, Erik could see Jade helping Carnelian upright, going slow for the old King, dazed and confused to his surroundings. 

But they both know that they’ll both be fine with time. 

There’s more important things to worry about. Hendrik and Jasper, for example.

Jasper is alive, but he’s silent. He knows he’s lost. But he isn’t doing anything about that. He’s blinded, eyes healed but even with that… Scars stretch from one side of his face to another, and his eyes are open. Milky white and unseeing. 

And Erik wonders if letting him live will prove to be a mistake.

He should’ve cut him down when he had the opening, but even if Hendrik didn’t know, they’d fought together before.

A comrade-in-arms, though he didn’t realize. 

It would’ve felt wrong to deny his friend the request.

It hardly feels real.

More like a dream than anything. 

“Are you feeling okay?” El cuts through Erik’s racing thoughts. 

“Didn’t you just ask me that?” Erik finally takes his eyes off the others to respond. “And should you be worrying a bit about yourself?”

El shrugs, then cringes as the edges of a wound pull. 

“I’ll be fine as soon as it’s my turn to be.” 

He’s looking at Erik, but more seeing through him.

Erik had already been told of the change to his eye color, no longer his normal grey-blue, or even the blood red they had taken on in the other timeline, but settled into a mix of the two.

The curse and the power that the dragonspawn blood gave him certainly wasn’t gone.

Rather, it was dormant. Waiting until the power is triggered again. 

The single remnants of the curse they’d both suffered. 

Perhaps they could find a way to control it. Harness it.

Maybe with a spell, like Rab had suggested. 

The twins could likely help.

But for now…

Movement in the clearing, Serena and Rab finally finishing up everyone else and headed their way.

Now, they have places to be. 

~~

Being in Heliodor again… Erik felt like he should be running.

The dizziness that came with being zoomed from city to city didn’t do much to help the nausea that came from his anxiety. 

Pulling the hood up over his head on his newly repaired tunic… Here to be hailed as a hero or not, all Erik felt like was the convict the crown and all the guards knew him to be.

El didn’t seem any less uncomfortable with being back here, either.

…Which reminded him, “Hey, El?”

Nervously fiddling with the strap that held the sword of light to his back, El only acknowledged he had heard with the barest of nods.

Perhaps this uneasiness wasn’t his alone. “I kept meaning to ask, how’d you get through the castle the first time around?”

“The guards at the gate stopped me. The townspeople thought it was a costume, I think.” His tail curled in close as the people around now gawped are the sight, the armed escort of four people and one dragon becoming more and more of a spectacle the closer they got to the castle. “It isn’t so different this time.” 

The castle gates, the sweeping staircases… Erik had only been inside once before, but he did have to say that it was much nicer coming in welcomed, than sneaking through the shadows. 

Even if it being  _ nice  _ only made him angry at the waste.

The money from even just a single one of the artifacts sitting pretty and useless on pedestals could’ve fed and clothed every single down-on-his-luck vagrant or dirt smudged child in Downtown. 

And instead, here it all sat. Serving no purpose other than looking nice.

Erik didn’t understand what the appeal was. 

Even if he had once dreamed with Mia about having a place like this for their own… 

He didn’t think he’d like it very much. 

The thought of living like Carnelian or Frysabel, hell, even Derk for that matter… It just didn’t compute. 

No matter how hard he tried, Erik just couldn’t picture it. El either. 

The grandest he could imagine was what they had before. Living quietly in Cobblestone.

Owing Mia or not… 

Hopefully she would outgrow her obsession with opulence.

The moment the hall ended and they were faced with the towering, painted ceilings, painted tapestries, a pair of maids came to greet their group, and the guards dispersed in perfect unison, joining their comrades along the sides of the room.

There, another perfect example of wastefulness. How long had it taken for them to learn that kind of timing? When there was so much more important they could’ve spent that time doing?

The two women began what had to have been a practiced speech. 

Their King and princess only returned a few hours before they rest of them having arrived, and already back to business as usual.

“If you would just follow us,” they were smiling, despite their clear discomfort, “We’ve prepared a banquet for you all, just the beginnings of your reward-”

El cut her off. “How do I find the dungeons from here?”

_ El? _

“The… dungeons?” Now thrown, the maid looked completely out of her element.

“The Cobblestonians are there, aren’t they?” El asked, and Erik felt like kicking himself.

He’d completely forgotten. They wouldn’t have found their own way back home, would they? 

Still locked up beneath the castle, no apocalypse to free them. 

“Cobblestone?” Rab said from behind them both, “What’s going on?”

It was suddenly clear that it wasn’t nerves about being back at the castle that had El upset. 

It would stand to reason that Carnelian would have forgotten, or simply not cared. 

And the two of them were the only ones that knew his family had actually survived Jasper’s attack.

As much as Erik didn’t want to see those dark cells again… 

as the maids only stammered out excuses and the still nearby guards made no move to assist them, responsibly fell to Erik.

Or, more accurately, he took it away by force. 

_ Scary dragon, put away your fangs.  _ Erik took El’s wrist in his hand, gently trying to remind him that these people weren’t used to him just yet. It would be another few months to wean their fear of him, and if he started that with a raised voice, broken horn and spread wings… Those months from before very well could become a year or more. “Come on,” he began leading El down a different way, “I know how to get there.”

Humiliating as it had been to be paraded through the castle, hands bound and head pushed towards the floor, at the very least he remembered how to find it. 

“Hold on now,” one of the guards finally spoke up as he passed, and well enough, it was one Erik wouldn’t ever forget. A slimy bastard on a power trip, only doing his job and feeding the prisoners half the time. And if he was up here… Erik couldn’t tell if that was a promotion or a demotion but either way… This might yet be fun. “You can’t just-”

“Can’t what?” Erik asked, stopping in his tracks and acting innocent. “Can’t release the  _ entire village  _ you have wrongfully imprisoned?”

“But you said-“ Erik  _ heard  _ Serena mention how they’d both claimed ages before that they didn’t know what had become of El’s family, but for the moment, it didn’t matter. They could explain later. 

The guard didn’t budge. “You can’t release the criminals who harbored the darkspawn.”

Erik nearly laughed. Was he being intentionally difficult, or was he just stupid? “Oh, you mean him?” Erik pointed a thumb over his shoulder to where El stood, silent and suddenly meek, not fully understanding where this all was coming from, but playing along nonetheless. “You must not have heard. He’s actually the  _ Luminary.  _ And those people are his family.” 

“They haven’t been pardoned by the King.” The guard argued, breaking formation to yell at Erik.

Maybe he’d been wrong about all the time wasted training.

This one certainly hadn’t had enough. “And you need permission from the captain of the guard to even go down there!”

Erik was done. “Then go get it. We’ll be down there waiting, yeah?”

The guard made to say something, something  _ nasty  _ if the look on his face was anything to go by, when all the color drained from his face.

“Is something the matter here?”

The guard snapped to attention, quickly moving back into line. “No, sir Hendrik.”

Lying bastard.

Hendrik stared at the mismatched group of heroes. “You should all be in the banquet hall.”

Erik wasn’t done yet, and he was sure that El certainly wasn’t. “You all go ahead?” Erik spared just a glance to the dumbfounded group before he looked straight at Hendrik, “We’ll catch up after we get El’s family out of the dungeons.” Daring Hendrik — daring anyone at all — to object.

But, to his utter surprise, Hendrik welcomed it. “I am on my way to release them, they are all invited to join you. A sorry excuse for an apology, but it is a start.”

Erik recalled for a moment how friendly Amber had been with the knight despite all the time he’d allowed all of her village to be held captive. The odd half-friendship the two had struck up that confused himself and El alike.

Perhaps this wasn’t so odd.

What  _ was  _ odd, however…

Was the sound of a dog barking echoing through the darkened cells.

“What’s the point in locking up a  _ dog?”  _

El was immediately on the ground with the old girl, untying the rope that kept her tethered to the wall. 

Sandy’s angry growl quickly morphed into delighted yapping, making El’s job all the more difficult as he tried to work around her jumping and attempts to lick his face. 

“It was my idea.” Hendrik explained, unlocking the door that led to the rest of the dungeons. “I was afraid that if she were to be left alone she would not have been able to fend for herself.”

That was… actually very sweet, if not misinformed. 

“Sandy would always chase away the smaller monsters that came near the village.” El explained, Sandy now free, tail wagging hard enough that Erik was afraid she’d sprain it again. “She’s even fought off a pair of young coyotes before.

She was looking at Erik with the same sort of mistrust she did before, but Erik knew it wouldn’t take more than a few scratches and a handful of table scraps snuck away from El and Amber’s careful eyes to win her over.

“Perhaps so.” Hendrik admitted, “But I did not wish to risk her safety. It was no real trouble to care for her.”

Of course he had taken it upon himself to care for the dog.

El gave him a quiet ‘thank you,’and the lock clicked open, allowing them through.

Erik hung back as El was reunited with his family, wanting to join in, but knowing he was just a stranger to them once more.

Though El must’ve forgotten that, sending Erik back up with the more able-bodied of the group as he and Hendrik took their time helping the older citizens.

It went smoothly enough, until they were back in the presentable part of the castle, and Amber’s shoe caught on the uneven tile, but only stumbled for a moment, Erik catching her arm before she could fall. 

“Thank you, dearie.” She gave a frustrated huff. “I'm afraid it’s going to be a while before I get my legs back under me.”

“Don’t worry about it, mum.” Erik said on instinct, only noticing his own slip when she stopped to stare at him.  _ Shit.  _ He hadn’t ever met this woman before. She hadn’t ever asked him to address her so familiarly. 

“Have I met you before?”

“I-“ Erik fumbled, feeling Veronica’s eyes on him, the twins  _ apparently  _ having decided to wait for them all to come back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean — you’re El’s mum, aren’t you?”

Distracted, but his mistake hardly forgotten, she nodded and let the castle staff take over from there,

showing her the rest of the way to the banquet hall. 

Erik waited by the door, taking time to let El catch up, and to kick himself for his stupidity.

Though of course, no one else was as good at that as Veronica.

“So, ‘mum’, huh? Pretty forward of you.” Veronica didn’t waste even a second to jump on the slip.

“What happened?” Erik nearly jumped at the new voice, El’s timing perfect as always, but not expecting any real answer until the hall was again mostly empty. 

Miserably, ready for whatever came next, Erik answered. “I called Amber ‘mum.’” 

“And?” El asked.

_ “‘And?’”  _ Veronica glanced between the two of them, “Don’t you think that was just a  _ little bit bold?” _

“No?” El still seemed confused, “That’s what she asked him to call her before —  _ oh.”  _

_ “Yeah.”  _

“‘Before?’” Serena repeated, “You mean… In the other timeline?”

El simply nodded. 

It was still difficult to separate it all in his mind.

Serena wanted to ask questions. She wanted to know what exactly it was the two of them had to leave behind, but… 

She held her tongue.

There was much the two of them had not yet explained, much she didn’t ever expect them to explain.

But they had left behind everything for this single chance at a second shot.

Yggdrasil in autumn. Yggdrasil’s fall… 

horrible, horrible ideas. 

But even so.

They had a right to keep it to themselves. If they thought it was best, then so be it.

But she had a horrible, sinking feeling that they hadn’t shared the worst of it.

Serena did not press the issue, and laid a careful hand on the top of Veronica’s head when she made to question them.

They had succeeded.

This was a time to celebrate.

It would do no good to upset them now, and so… They kept quiet.

All of them, throughout the entirety of the dinner, perfectly aware of the discomfort that practically radiated off of each person in attendance, but unwilling to test it.

Unwilling to know what all had truly happened, horrible enough to make El decide to risk it all.

~~

Terribly awkward or not, Erik had been relieved when the banquet had been called to an end.

Much less so, when he realized that they were moving to the throne room. 

And standing, listening to the king drone on and on about things they all already knew…

He’d take the nearly inedibly over-seasoned food, tangible stares from the guards, and forced small talk any day over this.

And El…

Was very much inclined to agree. 

“I know the truth now, hard as it is to swallow. The things I did under that monster's spell… It’s almost too terrible to contemplate.”

But they happened nonetheless. El at least wouldn’t let him forget. He opened his mouth to speak, remembering the way he lashed out before in the Last Bastion, stopping only short of spitting at the Kong’s feet, but he wasn’t given the chance. 

“But I must address them if I have any hope of reconciling with the people who have been hurt.” It wasn’t much. It wasn’t a promise, and it still didn’t fully lay the blame where it belonged, but it was a start.

And knowing what Jade was capable of, knowing how hard she worked in the other time to get Heliodor back on its feet… It was enough. “If not for you, this kingdom — nay, this entire world — would have been set to ruin. All would have been lost.”

All very nearly was lost.

Was all this truly necessary for his second attempt? 

Erdwin never needed a second attempt, did he?

Though… He actually hadn’t any way of knowing, did he? 

“True heroes stand before us! Erdrea is eternally in your debt!”

The King did not stand to address them, or call for celebration. 

Weakened near to immobility by Mordegon’s possession. A weight on his soul that he had to carry for over two decades. 

But his people were only happy to see him alive and speaking, the black spot of his rule taken away, and what they saw as a prosperous future ahead of them.

Common citizens and guards alike went up in cheer, all except for one.

El didn’t know what it was that this guard had against him, had against Erik, but El didn’t need to know to understand.

Erik despised him, and El didn’t need any more reason than the disgust practically pouring from him.

The people go quiet, and the guard speaks up.

A voice like nails on chalkboard. Nothing in particular stood out about it, average. Boring.

But the self-importance in it, the snotty, spoiled brat he must’ve been as a child to allow him the ego to speak up before the king, and just to satisfy some sort of payback?

Pointing right to Erik, he calls out. “Heroes, all but that one. A convict and an escapee, more like!”

It meant nothing. It  _ should’ve  _ meant nothing, brushed off and ignored. To be addressed by the man’s superior officers when all was said and done.

But Carnelian had listened.

“What was he found guilty of?” The King asks, turning cold eyes onto Erik, and a chill runs through his blood. 

The guard starts the list. Some small.

“Petty theft. Burglary. Public drunkenness. Breaking and entering.” 

Some less so. The guard was smirking.

“Theft from the royal family. Unlawful weapon trading. Jailbreak.”

He can’t- it had been horrible enough being in the dungeons again just to free the Cobblestonians, but… He can’t do it again. 

He can’t be locked up, left in the dark and the quiet to rot away-

El grabs hold of his hand,  _ I won’t let them take you.  _ It’s a promise, and Erik believes him.

But-

The guard lists Erik’s convictions, and all over again, Erik’s three years younger, before the king once more, about to lose so much of his life to a dark cell.

But El is at his side.

The twins, Rab, and Sylvando all move forward.

Even Jade walks away from the throne to stand in solidarity with the people closer to family than the King.

Not one of them is willing to let him go without a fight.

His words are silent to all but a select handful in the room, but he may as well be speaking aloud, for the look of pure venom on his face.

_ You’re safe. We’ll fight out of here if we have to. I’ll fly us however far we have to go — they won’t take you. I won’t let them lock you away. _

But before any one of them can object, before El’s hatred of the king makes a second appearance, Hendrik of all people speak up for Erik.

Hendrik hadn’t ever been his closest friend. 

Always felt as if he saw himself so much higher than Erik, looking down on him for the simple disparity in their class-

But now… 

“Sire, would it be wise to arrest one of the Heroes of Light?” Giving not only Erik, but each one of them the same amount of credit as the Luminary for their triumph, and politely as he spoke… It was enough to make anyone think twice. 

How would it look for the King, still freshly in his own control, to lock away one of the people who brought their enemies low? 

“I believe the time he has spent with the Luminary to have reformed him.”

_ Reformed.  _ Sure.

The guard doesn’t argue.

And Carnelian, staring as the sample thief is protected by not only the Luminary, but his own daughter, vouched for by his most trusted knight.

He wasn’t given any choice. “I do believe that the Red Orb and a handful of petty theft allegations are worth the peace he helped obtain. Besides-” Carnelian turns his eyes to El- “I wouldn’t dare trying to take a dragon’s treasure.”

He’s pardoned.

He’s safe.

Not one of the people surrounding him now would  _ ever  _ let them take him away.

But it doesn’t feel that way. His heart is still hammering in his chest, and he feels as though he’s about to be sick on the immaculate carpeting of the throne room, the dinner he  _ truly  _ didn’t want to eat in the first place threatening to come back to haunt him now.

He hardly hears Carnelian continue speaking, praising them for their deeds as if nothing at all had happened, until one word cuts through it all.

They’d all been offered honorary knighthood.

And not one of them had moved. Not one had spoken. 

Not one had accepted.

Each one of them holding different reasons to remain silent, the offer either meaningless or even insulting, but more importantly-

Erik still didn’t feel safe.

They all knew it.

And taking the King’s offer now? Well. It certainly wouldn’t have helped.

Out of his depth, the king isn’t sure what to do.

Isn't sure why such an offer would ever be rejected.

How should he respond? To move on without the discontent that had settled over all who watched on?

If there was a way, it wasn’t one he knew.

And so, he called on to begin the next order of business.

One that no one was quite sure how to feel about.

Jasper is led in. Hands chained in front of him and wings tied with rope. 

Still shaking like a leaf, Erik finds it in himself to sneer.

El feels his disdain… But at this point? He only pities the man.

This Jasper wasn’t responsible for anyone’s deaths.

He wasn’t a murderer yet.

Just tricked and misguided. Like Mia was, as much as El knew that Erik would argue that fact.

He watches on silently as the King strips him of his title as a knight of Heliodor.

A pause, and again El is the focus of Carnelian’s attention.

“Luminary,” again, addressed by his title and not his name, “What do  _ you  _ think is an appropriate punishment would be?”

El is horrified.

He isn’t- he  _ won’t  _ sentence a human being to death-

The taste of human blood again thick on his tongue.

Except- this feels like a trap.

How is he supposed to decide the fate of one man he despises after vowing to fight through innocents to keep one he loves safe?

It’s an impossible question. 

El expects Hendrik to speak up once more, to defend his old friend… But he remains silent.

Looking anywhere but at Jasper.

And El realizes this isn’t quite a trap.

Hendrik’s word would mean nothing. Of course he would want to spare his closest friend.

Not a trap. But a trade.

El knows Jasper was once different. He’d seen it with his own eyes, Yggdrasil showing him and Hendrik both a vision of their past.

Somehow… It isn’t so hard to pardon Jasper.

“Nothing.” El speaks past the uneasiness caught in his throat. 

Erik wants to argue. But doesn’t dare speak now, a known criminal condemning another.

“He’s already lost everything.” 

His career, his sight, his only friend. He’s paid.

And now…

Jasper hadn’t spoken throughout the entire discussion El’s opinion sparked.

Sightless eyes fixed on the ground, unable to see the way Hendrik sagged with relief as his life was spared.

It might not be too late for him yet.

All was done.

And just as it felt like the weight of the world was finally off his shoulders-

Darkness fell.

The light of day vanished, the windows showing what was just the slightest bit too vividly red to be dusk, and far too sudden a change to simply be the sun beginning to set.

“What’s going on?” Erik broke the hushed silence that fell over them all, Serena quickly following suit.

“There’s something… Evil. I sense it, but… I don’t know what it is.”

“What was it Mordegon said before he died?” Erik turned to El, the few words having escaped his attention until now. “We weren’t the only ones who defied the flow of time?”

El didn’t know what he had planned on saying, but as a guard burst down the door, begging the King to come quickly, it didn’t matter any more.

“It’s Erdwin’s Lantern!”

How had they forgotten?

“The balcony, upstairs! Quickly, Luminary!”

The Lantern destroyed by Mordegon before.

But still here now.

Racing up the hall, Erik at his heels, El caught sight of a tockle.

Walking the same way he was going, faster than he had ever seen one move, vanishing before long.

A regular blue colored one, but it made him think.

Had they really left the odd one in the other time?

Had it truly been erased with the rest of that apocalyptic world?

Something shines on the ground-

And El stops.

He’d seen many of the bygone coins along their journey.

A currency no longer in use, not useful for anything more than being something pretty to look at.

What was it doing  _ here? _

Dropped in fear by someone careless?

“Ellie?” Sylvando urged him forward, and El turned away from the coin, leaving it where it sat.

Another time.

_ Another time. _

And on the balcony-

Red and grey clouds swirled.

A perfect image of what he had seen before.

_ “No.”  _ Erik’s voice shuddered. “Not again.”

But there, far across the sky but seeing it all too clear-

“Erdwin’s Lantern!” Rab cried out in shock. “It’s falling!”

There was no denying it.

And this time-

There was no stopping it.

It crashed down to the sands, and where it landed-

It could hardly be seen.

But even from this distance, they all saw what rose from it.

And again, all too soon, the Luminary was called into action.

~~

One night to rest.

One night to prepare. And it wasn’t enough.

Even with the curtains closed, the red light of what had replaced Erdwin’s lantern still leaked into the dark room.

They both sat up on the bed, against the headboard, the blankets pulled up over their heads.

They held onto each other with bruising grips, their only anchors to the present, to sanity.

“This was a mistake.” El said into Erik’s hair, his voice wobbling. “We shouldn’t have- we’ve ruined everything.”

It was all Erik could do to not break down.

He couldn’t.

They needed each other to stay strong.

Not just for each other this time, but for everyone.

“It wasn’t a mistake.” Erik hoped he sounded more sure than he was. “It couldn’t have been.”

El shook his head. Erik could feel the splinters in his resolve. He could feel them crack and spread.

“I can’t… I can’t do this again!” His voice went high, hysterical. “I can’t survive another-“

“Don’t you  _ dare  _ finish that sentence. If you die I’ll fucking kill you.” Erik snarled before El could even begin to go down that road.

He wouldn’t let him.

They’d both been to that ledge before, and without each other to hold tight to. But this time, it was different. And Erik wasn’t going to let El reach that point ever again. “You’re not allowed to die, got it? We came back here for a reason.”

They’d been through worse.

This wouldn’t be what broke them.

Erik wouldn’t let it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love every comment each of you leave for me, but I want to take a second to say that I’m writing this on my own without a beta, just for fun. I’m not trying to make anything perfect and I’d really appreciate if you could leave the concrit at home! 💖


	27. Shotgun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik had been right.  
> They’d been through worse.  
> This wouldn’t be what stopped them.  
> They had eight in their force, now. Hendrik and Veronica both in their ranks.  
> Just that much more firepower, quite literally, to their cause.  
> And this time — they even had a place to start.  
> A brief run in with the Seer, what little remained of the man that was once Morcant, and a heavy hint on where they would find their answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took... much longer than I thought it would. Also it is much longer than I thought it would be. I hope that makes up for the wait!

From where he stood in the grand hall, El had the vantage to see both Jade saying farewell to her father, quietly accepting the tiara he gave, and her place as crown princess whenever she came back, as well as Hendrik saying farewell to his old friend.

The exchange with Jade was one he had seen before, nearly word for word. 

She would be returning home to Heliodor as soon as her duty to the Luminary was complete, and though many things had changed in this new time…

Carnelian was still frail.

Younger than he looked, El knew, but now shaking like a much older man. Lines on his face that should not yet be there all too noticeable, matching all too well with the tremor in his hands. 

Clear marks left on his mind and body from Mordegon’s possession.

He saw for the second time the moment Jade realized what taking the tiara would mean.

No more journeys across the land, her freedom halted in favor of her duty, her birthright. 

El saw the battle inside that lasted only heartbeats, but must’ve felt like an eternity. 

She’d never had the chance to be brought up as royalty, to learn the ropes, to be groomed to

take the crown one day. Rather, spending her formative years on the road. 

Though Rab had taught her what he could, Heliodor operated differently than Dundrasil, and his lessons could only take her so far. More conventional wisdom and odd anecdotes than practical teachings.

El knew first hand.

The heirloom heavy in her hands, she took the only choice she’d ever seen.

Her father would not be fit to rule for very much longer, and she could never leave her kingdom without a leader.

El looked away at last, giving her some modicum of privacy.

“She’ll be alright.” Erik said, “You know that.”

El just nodded.

“Should we tell her that?”

El took a second to consider it. In the end, they’d really only explained the bare minimum. They hadn’t gone over what all they had done after Mordegon had been defeated. Hadn’t seen any need.

But… No. “Probably not.” El decided. There wasn’t any need to follow in the footsteps of a future long gone.

This was an entirely different world.

They had the freedom now, they had  _ options  _ now.

Even if the choices laid before Jade were startlingly few.

She’d find her own feet safely on the ground before she truly had the time to dream up worst-case scenarios. 

But, on the other side of the room…

Out of the dungeons for the time being, his old room his own once again, Jasper hung off each of Hendrik’s words, a promise to come back. A promise to help him gain back the trust everyone had lost in him.

About just as lost as he could be, thrust into a world years older than he only knew through a haze of actions only halfway his own. 

El couldn’t help but pity Jasper in this state.

He and Carnelian weren’t so different.

Though one was a much more willing pawn… They were both victims of Mordegon, possessed by different things but possessed nonetheless. 

He could feel Erik’s silent skepticism about leaving Jasper like this, unguarded, but…

He wasn’t much harm at the moment.

Thanks to Serena’s careful magic he’d managed to regain partial vision, merely light and colors, but more than he would’ve had without it.

Erik didn’t regret the attack that caused all this, he knew that in the moment, it had been necessary.

What worried him was what came next.

Jasper wouldn’t be down forever. Sooner or later he’d adapt to these changes, and then they just may have another monster loose on their hands.

But Erik trusted El’s intuition, trusted that Hendrik knew what he was talking about when he said that Jasper was a victim, a pawn rather than a traitor.

Erik had suspected as much before, but it was still harder to swallow than he cared for. 

“You ready to go?” El asked him, voice quiet. They weren’t in any position to be disturbing the other’s quiet goodbyes, but the way voices echoed off the cavernous ceilings did little to make either of them comfortable.

As if they had much of a choice.

“Yeah.” Erik turned away from the sight, eager to leave the castle but reluctant to begin another new journey.

But really…

Just about anywhere would be better than Heliodor castle.

It didn’t take long for the rest to join them at the gates of the city, and it didn’t take long for them all moving once more.

Again, the lantern was falling, and again, El was set off on another journey all too soon.

Just a few days to rest and relax far, far too much to ask.

The crest of the hill loomed before them all, and all the lands of Erdrea that stretched out countless miles wide in each direction…. It should be intimidating.

El thought for sure that looking upon it again knowing how far he had to trek would set his legs and wings aching, light a weariness in his bones and spread the poisonous need to simply give up. 

But it just didn’t.

The blood red hue that Erdwin’s lantern had given the sky had faded by morning, retreating to a small section of the sky where Calasmos now hung, leaving the rest of the sky bright and clear for the winter they were in. 

It was hardly anything to consider, perhaps it was just that the bar was that low. But it was  _ normal.  _

Even with the name Calasmos ringing in his skull, knowing what he was up against…

It didn’t feel as dire as what he had left before. 

What he had survived before. 

Erik had been right. 

They’d been through worse. 

This wouldn’t be what stopped them.

They had eight in their force, now. Hendrik and Veronica both in their ranks.

Just that much more firepower, quite literally, to their cause.

And this time — they even had a place to start.

A brief run in with the Seer, what little remained of the man that was once Morcant, and a heavy hint on where they would find their answers.

As the light faded, and they were left in the thin air of the Skies Above, El again found that odd feeling of belonging before the odd sky-bound temples came into view. 

Like coming home after days away.

But so much stronger now.

No longer was it a single island, a single temple, a single Watcher.

But a sprawling mass, and entire floating archipelago, dragons and Watchers both everywhere to be seen, going about their daily lives in complete harmony with each other. 

Their entire group stood in awe of the fantastical views, the tiny dragons and beings they’d never before seen, an entire  _ town  _ right above their heads that they had never known of. 

Though Erik and El were shocked for a different reason than the rest. 

It would make sense to think that the Watchers would have been spared when time turned back, but they hadn’t been prepared for quite so much.

The sky bound islands are teeming with life. 

Little dragons crowd around them all, curious about what these unfamiliar beings are as they move from island to island, taking their time as they go, this land distant from all the rest, feeling almost untouched by time.

But El knew all too well that it wasn’t.

Watchers crowd around, and it’s only the calm that he and Erik both share that keeps their friends from recoiling. 

Though the distrust quickly melts away as the little creatures welcome them, though only one speaks directly to El.

...Not the same one from before, that had survived his people’s demise. 

El doesn’t see him anywhere… But isn’t too put-out. The child would be around somewhere, without a clue as to what his life had nearly become, and he didn’t have the room to keep looking as they were all ushered from their landing point, the Watchers insisting on him meeting their elder as soon as possible. 

El was almost let down that he wasn’t given the time to look around on his own terms. So many islands only accessible for one with wings, untouched for goddess knows how long... An explorer’s dream come true.

He could only imagine the artifacts left behind, the history of his people-

_ El.  _ He stops as Erik’s voice drifts to him, and he turns to see his partner engrossed in one of the many paintings that covered the walls and pillars.

This one, of a dragonspawn woman and many tiny pastel-colored dragons all around her.  _ This art…  _

“What about it?” El came to a stop by his shoulder, though it took a few moments for him to finally look away, and acknowledge his presence.

He’d seen these before.

Before he’d first lost his memory, though that wasn’t very long before at all. 

The ruins in which he’d been imprisoned… 

In his rush to escape, he’d hardly given himself time to think much of them, and here they all were. Untouched. 

The mural of the dragonspawn, this one, the one before, and so many more.

Statues and stone carvings of dragons and watchers alike, scattered all over. 

It wasn’t an isolated case.

Here with the Watchers, the dragon imagery was everywhere. 

“The Watcher before told us that my people once lived here, didn’t he?” El said, following Erik’s thoughts. 

His ancestral home. Both of theirs, when he really stopped to think about it. A mystery solved before Erik could even remember it existed, but all the same, come to a conclusion. 

Though he fought hard to keep them hidden, El wasn’t alone in his doubts about returning here, the fact that they hadn’t a choice not doing much to keep his mind made up that it was the right decision.

But El began to guide him away, back to the path that led to the highest peak in sight, Erik knew it was the right decision.

The Dragonspawn were already gone, but the Watchers had been saved.

As they approach what El recognized as the ruins he and Erik found the Wheel of Time in, but standing whole and unmarred by the destruction of Yggdrasil’s Fall. 

Two Watchers stand sentry on either side of another, indistinguishable from the others aside from his long beard and staff. “THE ELDER, WISEST WATCHER. EEGOLTAP, WOKEN ONLY TO SPEAK TO LUMINARY.”

‘Woken’ seems a little generous for the old soul, eyes nearly shut, and head bobbing as if he were about to pass out any second, but when he speaks, it’s no less clear than the others.

“LONG AGO, WE WERE BLESSED BY YGGDRASIL. ALL WAS PEACE. ALL WAS HARMONY FOR SACRED SERVANTS OF WORLD TREE.” The watcher spoke without promoting, sharing the information he knew the travelers had come for. “BUT SHADOW FELL. HORROR FROM ABOVE. CALASMOS. SHADOW RETURNS, CALASMOS RETURNS. DARK ONE, HATER OF LIFE. BRINGER OF DEATH.”

The Elder used his staff to gesture to the murals behind him. 

“LISTEN. TELL WATCHER STORY. LOOK. ANCIENT TIMES. CALASMOS COMES, SEEKS POWER OF YGGDRASIL. BRINGS EVIL. MONSTERS. MIASMA. DESTRUCTION. BUT YGGDRASIL SEES. SENDS SAVIOR. ERDWIN, LUMINARY. ANCESTOR. CROSSES ERDREA. GATHERS COMPANIONS. DRUSTAN: WARRIOR. SERENICA: SAGE. MORCANT: SORCERER.”

El had more than that. Eight of them in total to fight, and he had crossed Erdrea thrice over now. He was prepared. He had to be. There wasn’t anything left to-

“JOIN FORCES. FORGE SWORD OF LIGHT. LONG BATTLE. PEACE RETURNS.”

“But if Erdwin was victorious, why has the Dark One returned now?” Hendrik asked, pushing past his disturbance from the stout creatures to voice his confusion. 

El’s eyes had continued to follow the carvings as the watcher spoke, in awe at the intricate detailing when the statues of the former heroes caught his eye.

Morcant. Human.

Drustan. Human.

Erdwin. Human.

But Serenica-

Dragonspawn. 

Her statue depicts her with horns curing in towards her head, a long tail, and wings stretching out to either side. 

And she looks absolutely nothing like the towering statue in Arboria. Not a saint. Not an unreachable figure. Just… A person. 

And he wasn’t the only to notice. While El stares, lost entirely in thought, Erik speaks up. “Wait just a moment.  _ That’s  _ Serenica?”

And his question garners the attention of Serena and Veronica, and the rest follow suit.

“That can’t be right.” Veronica says, stepping away from the group to get a closer look. “None of our history says anything about this.”

“Was she truly dragonspawn?” Serena asked, following her sister.

The Watchers look saddened, but answer easily.

“SHE WAS. BORN HERE. RAISED HERE. MARRIED HERE.” 

“Why doesn’t anyone know?” Veronica turns away from the statue to demand from one of the Watchers, short as they are, still towering over her. “We have her entire history written in Arboria! She’s practically worshipped!”

“HUMAN HISTORY OFTEN FAILS.” The Watcher answered, “LIVES AND MEMORIES SHORT. UNABLE TO SEE WHAT ALL TRANSPIRES.”

“We can explain the mistake when we go home.” Serena offers, “Correct all the misinformation.”

But the Watchers decline. “IT IS A TRAGEDY THAT SHE WAS FORGOTTEN. BUT IT IS NOT WHOLLY THE FAULT OF ARBORIA.” 

“Then what?” El asks, a sneaking hope that he was finally about to get some answers clawing its way past every last barrier he had set up.

“YOU WISH TO KNOW THE HISTORY OF YOUR PEOPLE.” Spoken as a statement, not a question.

The hope only soared. “VERY WELL.”

A hush settles over the clouds, and the answer echoes in his mind.

In all of their heads, history that the Watchers keep, but seldom ever get to tell.

_ When the dragonspawn perished, they were not spoken of. Their demise came so suddenly… It was akin to a curse to utter their name. _

Hendrik speaks up. “Why would that be allowed to happen? How could our leaders allow an entire population to be forgotten?”

_ People were scared. _

_ The dragonspawn unreachable figures, lives longer than even the merpeople, nearly every single one gone in mere weeks?  _

_ It is no excuse, but they were terrified. Terrified of being the next. _

“The next to… What?” 

And finally, he gets his answers.

He’s brought again to the room with the guiding light, numb for the entire walk, Erik’s hand grasped in his to ground him, but his mind races all the same, and this time, when he’s given visions, he sees Serenica.

He sees Erdwin murdered. 

A stain on the World Tree.

The dragonspawn were Her children, just as every other being, but they were Her eldest. Created first, in Her image. Closest to Her Heart, able to walk among Her branches whenever they pleased.

Joined at the soul. 

But not as close as she had been to Her Luminary.

When Erdwin was killed, so was a part of Her. A blight in Her leaves, a blight on her people. 

A blight that they had seen the very beginnings of before.

And a blight that could very well return could they not put a stop to this.

That’s why Calasmos was back. 

Erdwin hadn’t been successful. He hadn’t had the chance.

And El was never put here to stop Mordegon, and this wasn’t his second chance.

_ He  _ was the second chance.

The last hope.

“YOUR BIRTH. YOUR COMING. YOU ARE LIGHT. LIGHT MADE TO VANQUISH DARK.” The Watchers spoke, but it was hardly reassuring.

Erdwin had been the same, had he not?

And he had still perished. 

Again, the mark on his hand lit, and again, he was gifted the guiding light.

But… 

“GUIDING LIGHT. FLAME OF YGGDRAGON. CREATOR OF ERDREA. AWAKENS POWER. POWER OF LUMINARY.”

Is that why it felt so familiar to his own?

“SOME SAY LIGHT BRINGS DARK. LUMINARY BRINGS DARK ONE. NOT SO. LUMINARY MUST END THIS. BREAK CYCLE. WITH YGGDRAGON’S BLESSING.”

That was everything.

With the light, all that remained was the hammer and the orichalcum. 

“DRAGONSPAWN NOT ALL GONE.” One of the smaller ones said before El could take his leave. “LIVE ON. IN YOU, IN MANY. MAY BE ONLY ELEVEN NOW, BUT NUMBER WILL GROW.”

“How?” El asked, but tallying the number in his head. He, Erik and Mia, Krystalinda, Jasper, and the newborn in Arboria only totaled six. The other five... 

“BLOOD.” Another answered easily, no riddles, no mysteries, no rhymes. El decided he liked these creatures. “BLOOD IS PATIENT. DESCENDANTS OF DRAGONSPAWN LIVE. BLOOD GROWS, GENERATION BY GENERATION. DRAGONSPAWN WILL LIVE AGAIN.”

It was that simple.

That was what happened to Erik, what was triggered in the little family in Hotto.

Dragon’s blood, not weak from years of being buried into their DNA, but stronger than ever. Growing bit by bit over each generation.

And if it was that strong already, strong enough that he and the child in Arboria had been born the way they had…

It would seem their renaissance was at hand.

~~

But… not everything was bad.

In fact, despite the demon hovering in the sky, the red color drawing in close and leaving the rest clear and blue… It was almost enjoyable, going around the world again, safely. Without fear of being spotted.

Word of the Luminary’s feats had spread across the land, and most villages were willing to accommodate them without charge, without a word said to his appearance.

Of course, he’d grown accustomed to being seen as the new normal before… But all these people were still human.

Untouched by any curse.

Erik had elbowed him in the ribs after their first experience being recognized as the group that had saved Heliodor, word having spread like wildfire. He’d been staring slack-jawed after the people who took the time out of their day to stop and thank him for his bravery, and all Erik had to say was  _ ‘told you.’ _

It was… An adjustment, to say the least,

But as he needed the time to adjust to this new normal, he also came to terms with how this new world worked. El wouldn’t have to wonder long about who made up the other dragons.

To lose time would be to lose much… But it wouldn’t have been to lose everything. Little bits and pieces remained of what they had thought to be lost forever… 

Some were obvious, clear enough to be found right away. Erik’s memories, for one. 

The odd twinges of deja vu their friends got as they went from town to town, where things weren’t quite the same, but familiar in ways they couldn’t really understand.

In some ways… Visible to El and Erik. 

Hotto descended upon by a curse that took their best and brightest, changing them beyond recognition, Miko and Ryu —somehow revived, alive and well, no rampaging dragon in sight— hidden away in their home for the good of their village, but a humble little family of three locked up.

El was saddened, but he could say he was surprised. At the very least…

Being the Luminary had at last become something he could use to throw his weight around. A few words with the townsfolk, with the priest, with the people praying… And finally, Miko herself.

El would be lying if he tried to say he held any true respect for the woman. He could understand at least the lengths a parent would go for the sake of their child. He could understand how scared the world had become after Yggdrasil’s fault, and he could believe that she had simply been mad with grief before…

But this behavior was simply inexcusable.

At least it hadn’t been too difficult to sway the villager’s opinions simply by existing safely among them.

He’d have to go back, eventually. Check on the town, make sure it was making good on the simple promises it had made… 

But he did have hope.

The twins had taken to their new dragon forms like fish to water, and with two entire families now with dragon blood just as strong as his own…

They really were coming back. 

Town to town, taking their time to fix every little problem that sprang up, some worthy of a Luminary’s interference, some simple nuisances, all little spots of illness left from the rot that had festered in Yggdrasil’s absence. 

And these little gaps between each town… 

With the campfire blazing through the night and the simple company… The world was facing what could very well spell its end, but not one of them felt like it, sitting around the fire, trading stories and tales, making promises to make stops at the next village on the map, make the time for a little luxury. 

And as they travelled, the bond finally settled down to what El dared to call a normal state.

They have again perfect access to each other’s thoughts, emotions, and feelings, but it isn’t overpowering. They can tell what belongs to who, and have even found a way to close it off if they want to.

Not that they have done that much, if at all.

It had become normal for them to have that access constantly, and keeping the line open was a comfort. 

But as they had already realized, little things had begun to show, things from time not entirely lost, and not all of it was immediately apparent. 

They’d opted to set up camp outside of Phnom Nohn, neither Erik nor El comfortable with staying in the town after ridding them of their simple monster invasion. 

No one had objected, chalking up their discomfort to what had happened ages ago with Dora-in-Grey… And while that was a good enough excuse, it wasn’t the truth.

These people were innocent of the actions they never would commit, but Erik couldn’t let his guard down no matter how long they stayed. The scar on his hand proof enough of what they could do under any bit of negative influence. And El… Well, he had seen worse. He’d been through worse. But this town and Octogonia both did his nerves in. 

A barely contained itch to fight simmering just under his skin, tail lashing whenever a citizen came too close to any one of the people he counted in his family. 

He surely wasn’t helping himself in the ‘scary dragon’ territory, but he couldn’t be bothered to care. 

There wasn’t any slice into the stone pathing from a knife driven into the ground, and there weren’t any people trying to hurt Erik simply for starving… He knew these people hadn’t been changed. They hadn’t been cursed.

But he couldn’t forget, and found that no matter what was said, he couldn’t relax until they had put the town behind them. 

Just a few places left to tick off their list, and hopefully no more that would prove to be so draining. 

They had everything they needed for the second sword of light. Just forging it now.

And now, laying on his side with a throbbing headache wound in a band around his head, he was only just beginning to relax. 

Hand in El’s hair, nails scratching at his scalp and his headache a distant pain he was only scarcely aware of, El doing a decent job at keeping it to himself… Erik decided they wouldn’t be coming back to Phnom Nohn without a damned good reason. 

The tension El had felt had gotten to him as well, but the sheer willpower it had taken El to  _ not  _ lash out… It was scary, to be completely honest. But he would be lying if he tried to say he didn’t understand.

Though it was hardly going to do any good for either of them to dwell on it, and the sooner El was back to his normal more… Docile state, the sooner the others would stop worrying.

The sooner their questions would cease. 

He needed something to take El’s mind away, and though it may not be the topic to de-stress him, he hadn’t the opportunity yet to bring it up, and Erik knew he needed to ask before too long had passed. 

Their silent back and forth about nothing in particular winded down, and in its absence, Erik began again.

_ It must’ve been a shock…  _

El didn’t need him to clarify. There hadn’t been much else on his mind since they found out. He gave a half-shrug.  _ I don’t know… I didn’t have any expectations.  _

_ You hoped they were alright, though. _

_ Of course I did.  _ El said.  _ But I knew it wasn’t likely. I’m alright. Really. They said that the dragonspawn will return… and I believed them. That’s all that matters. _

_ What about finding out about Serenica? _

There’s a pause.  _ Is that what this is about? The reincarnation? _

“What?” Erik asks aloud, before catching himself.  _ Is that what- oh. No. It’s not. Can I not just be worried for you? _

_ No.  _ El answers.  _ You’ve always got a reason.  _

_ My  _ reason _ is just about everything.  _ Erik answers back,  _ But- fine. What about you? Does the reincarnation bother you? Arboria seems to really- _

_ Fuck Arboria.  _ El cuts in, and Erik couldn’t suppress a snort. He knew how much distaste El had for the cult-like town, hell. He shared it. 

_ But seriously, I haven’t thought much of it.  _ El said after a brief silence.  _ I don’t care about who the last Luminary had, or who the next will. I’ve got you. That’s all that matters.  _ El moved just slightly closer in, and his horn began to poke into Erik’s thigh.  _ I hope you don’t think there’s anyone else I’d rather be with.  _

He didn’t. And even with the pointy bits and the occasional bruise from a wing or tail he didn’t have time to dodge… Erik wouldn’t have anywhere else he’d rather be, either.

_ And it’s just the power that is passed down. Not the entire soul.  _ El continued on,  _...Could you imagine how cruel that would be? The exact same soul, born time and time again, never to know a peaceful life? _

Erik grimaced unsure of exactly where El was going, and El noticed, backtracking as fast as he could. 

_ It might not be peaceful yet, but I don’t hate this life. As long as I’m with you, it’s fine. _

Erik had been his damndest to keep his thoughts on it quiet… but he can’t stop thinking about Serenica. Mainly, her and Erdwin. 

Her supposed  _ reincarnation  _ sits just across from them, but Veronica hardly has any interest, even looking past her… current predicament.

And the way that Serena and Jade were spending all their free time together…

Not that it mattered.

Their bond proved that much, everything that El had just said proved that this Luminary has chosen differently. There was no jealousy to be found.

What he had on his mind was a little different.  _ Born on the Skies Above, and married there too.  _ That had been what the Watchers had said.

He and El didn’t marry in the world before, never even considered it.

But now…

He wondered.

It wouldn’t change anything, would it? They’d still be themselves, with a few extra promises, a pair of rings..

Except-

He might know, after all. The vision he’d had right before he lost his memory… But it was beginning to fade around the edges. He couldn’t tell if the hand that held the basket wore a ring, or if it was imagined.

Perhaps that’s for the best. He doesn’t really want to act entirely based off of what may have been nothing more significant than a Fever dream.

If he chooses to, then he’ll ask on his own idea.

Not what was foreseen of him.

Conversation ebbs and flows around them, Erik picking up bits and pieces. Hendrik, Sylvando, and Rab are locked in a discussion about reconstruction, what Dundrasil once was, and Jade interjects every now and then with a point or a question, before turning back to the less dire conversation the twins are having, leaving the two of them to themselves.

They have no doubts this time that they’ll succeed. They can’t afford to have doubt, can’t risk despair sinking in.

And so-

They look to the future.

Cobblestone is rebuilding, Derk even moving there to set up shop, claiming the little village to be a much better place to raise a family than the upper level of Heliodor, and much closer to his friend.

They could settle there again.

Build their own cabin, bring Mia with them. Their own garden plot, their own livestock.

_ We could move back to Cobblestone again.  _ Erik makes the suggestion, and El hums his reply. Not a yes or no, but simple acknowledgement. As if he hadn’t seen any other option. 

As if it was the default.

Erik never needed any permission to invite Mia back with them again. He’d been silly to think so. 

So engrossed in their own conversation that they don’t notice when everyone goes quiet.

The camp was unusually silent around them, but deaf to the world outside the one they imagined.

Erik wakes at dawn, but decides to stay where he is, held in a sleep-loose grip and warm from El’s Fire.

They have places to be, but he doesn’t care right now. He has time to wait for El to wake on his own, but as time stretches on, the sunlight changing as the morning passes by, and he hears the gentle sounds of the others moving about- he can’t help but wonder what’s wrong. 

As the lazy dragon finally wakes up,

El wakes up a little bit later, and while he wants to go back to sleep, knows they’ve already lost enough time, and isn't it odd they haven’t been woken yet? Normally they would have been dragged out by their tails-

Or. El would have been, Erik left to follow behind the irate dragon. 

They get up and get dressed, and talk about where they have to go from here. Whether it would be worth the energy spent for El to zoom them to their next destination. El makes a point about gaining more experience on the road as he opens the tent flap, but as he does he yelps, wings flaring out and nearly getting caught on the inside of their tent as he’s pulled through.

Erik, only barely dressed, tunic hanging loose since he hadn’t had the time to tie on his sash, only manages a single confused  _ “El?” _ until he too is pulled out by the wrist.

But ambush was the last thing on his mind as he realized what he’s looking at.

_ Intervention  _ is higher up the list.

“Goddess.” Jade complains, letting go of his hand, looking him up and down. “How long does it take the two of you to get ready?”

“It helps when we aren’t dragged out.” Erik grumbles, not caring enough to go back in the tent. He wasn’t in any real state of undress, but somehow still felt naked without the sash.

But it could wait. 

They were all staring at them both with varying degrees of intensity — save for Sylv, whose sparkling eyes were terrifying in their own way.

Just as Erik began to ask what they wanted-

_ It’s about time you two dragged yourselves out of bed.  _

Veronica.

In his head.

And-

The rest nodded. As if they had heard.

With a terrible realization, Erik understood. 

Last night’s conversations.

They- they had  _ heard it all.  _

There were many things to worry about with that little fact, little things like  _ how long  _ and  _ what exactly  _ they had been listening to-

But right now the thing on Erik’s mind was embarrassment. Plain and simple. 

Just another leftover that they hadn’t thought to take into consideration. 

“We don’t listen in on purpose, darling.” Sylv quickly said, trying to do what they could before absolutely  _ all  _ the blood in Erik’s body rushed to his face. “But a few things you said got us thinking…”

“You didn’t tell us very much about the world you left behind.” Serena picked up where they left off, “And we didn’t think too much about it. About what you could have had there before. We hadn’t a clue you lost so much…” 

She was right… They didn’t have a clue. All they knew was that they lived together in Cobblestone. They didn’t know what they  _ really  _ had lost. What they had gained back.

What made this all worth it. 

“But we decided we want to help. After this is all over… Well, I’ll do what I can. I could officiate, if you’d like.”

“If ye want to make all your family a part of it, I could tell ye what Dundrasil’s traditions are.” Rab offered. 

“Well. As long as I’m stuck this way, might as well make the most of it! What are Cobblestone traditions like? Do you need a flower girl?”

A- “Are you-  _ planning our wedding?”  _

“Of course!” Sylvando piped up, “It’s been far,  _ far  _ too long since I’ve had one to plan!”

Erik looked to Jade, not entirely sure why. Desperate for  _ some  _ kind of help, but-

“I suppose Elwood could’ve chosen worse.”

“Thanks.” Erik deadpanned.

Of course.

Well.

That was one thing to look forward to. 

If he wanted to actually propose… It would seem he had a time limit now.

El took his hand, and gave him a bright smile. 

Well. As long as he was happy.

Though…

Even as they packed up camp, and began the trek out of the jungles, Erik lagged behind. Feeling a little as though the choice had been taken from him.

He’d assured El that he was fine, that he just needed a little quiet and that he’d call for help if he needed any.

The party far ahead of him, they didn’t notice when he stepped on a twig, snapping it and sending a bird flying.

But Erik noticed what the bird had left behind.

It was stuck, wedged between loose bark of the tree where the creature had been perched, and stunningly beautiful. 

Near the stem, the down was a soft golden color, not unlike the glow that came alongside El’s power, like the color of his scales. But the color changed as the down became vines, a vivid turquoise that faded into a rich bright blue, cut through by darker stripes nearer the end.

Erik had it free before he knew it, carefully smoothing out the roughness that the bark had left. It fit in his hand, the stem settled near his wrist and the end against his fingers. 

He’d made a promise to El, offhand and half-drunk, but a promise nonetheless. Any feathers he found would be given to El for his hoard, and this one would surely be a fine enough addition… But… It was just a little more than that.

_ Erik?  _ El’s voice echoed down to him,  _ Where are you? You’re lagging behind. _

_ I’ll be right there!  _ Erik sent back, tucking the feather away safely.

Keeping it a secret would be difficult… But with any luck, he wouldn’t be keeping it for very long.

After all…

There wasn’t much time left to waste.

~~

The ruins of Dundrasil stretched out above them, lit by Yggdrasil’s glow. 

Irwin again saved and the souls of the late King and Queen once more put to final rest…

And their kingdom once more truly empty. 

Ivy and moss grew strong on what remained, animals and insects slowly creeping in to take the land for themselves.

With every little victory. Every little do-over… El brightened just that tiny bit more. 

Calasmos still stood before them.

No other obstacle between them and peace at long, long last.

They should all be afraid. Failure there wouldn’t be a retreat. They wouldn’t have the opportunity to turn tail like they had when they’d found archtagon revived, a horde of possessed fighters at the ready when they had expected nothing of the sort.

There wouldn’t be a second chance, this time.

And yet still, any fear, any anxiety was null in comparison to everything else. 

No matter what came next… It wouldn’t be as bad as it had been before.

Yggdrasil would not fall. Their world would not end. 

And even if worse came to worst… 

They had their way out. They had zoom, they knew where the wheel of time was. They had the sword of light.

El would go back and do everything again, over and over, no matter how long it took. No matter how many tries.

And Erik would do the same.

For the rest of his natural life, if necessary.

Perhaps not the most romantic of times, or the most romantic of reasons, but… 

It would have to do.

They had made camp in the tunnel below the well, easy shelter against the rains the night would bring…

But neither of them had retreated back to the group yet, and the rains had not begun to fall.

He had this bit of time, and he wasn’t going to chicken out. Again.

It was stupid, he knew. 

El wouldn’t turn him down, wouldn’t ever even cross his mind to say no, but logic and experience never really did all that much in the face of overthinking things.

But he wouldn’t be getting a better chance than this until it was all over, and Erik was tired of waiting for things to happen.

He knew now how easily things could change, and he knew how wrong everything could go.

Though… He was sure that no matter what did happen, as long the two of them were still alive, they’d find their way back.

Nothing could prove that more than what they had already been through, and while he didn’t really know how to say that-

“Erik?” El’s voice cut through his swirling thoughts, and he looked up, away from where he’d been staring down into the slowly moving water. Dundrasil was full of these things, still pools, flowing rivers, all flowing down from Yggdrasil. Such a blessed kingdom, and it still had fallen. “Are you okay? You’ve been spacing out for a while…”

Spaced out and silent, with his thoughts all cut off, only vague feelings of conflicting nerves and resolution detectable… Yeah. He wasn’t thinking that through.

“I’m fine,” Erik says, letting the barrier between them go. “Didn’t mean to block you out so long.”

El didn’t look any less concerned. “But you did mean to, then?” He wasn’t upset, Erik had every right to his privacy, didn’t need El’s permission to it either, but nonetheless…

“Just needed to think.” 

“About?” El asked, then added on a hurried, “If you don’t mind.”

“About what everyone said to us.” Erik answered. “How it happened. We didn’t really have much choice in it all… But I think it was a good thing, at least. I’d been thinking about it all for a while, anyway, but that whole… Thing, got to me a little.”

The words started, and Erik found himself with the opposite problem that he thought he would have. They didn’t stop. The moment Erik took the barrier down, he was sure that El realized what he was planning, and there wasn’t any reason to keep it hidden, any longer. “It’s not a ring. I’m not any smith, and you aren’t really much for jewelry anyway, are you?” The vines were soft under his hands, the feather carefully kept pristine… Goddess, was this a stupid idea? He could’ve  _ bought  _ a ring… Even swiped a nice one while they were in Hotto… But he’s started and all he has is a fucking feather. “I’m- I felt like this might be more… special, I guess. I know you’re going to have to start your hoard all over again, and I know there wasn’t anything like this in it before-”  _ I’m rambling…  _ “it’s just… They were all right. We never talked about it, but we left behind an entire life, and who’s to say it’s going to be the same this time around? But I want to be here for whatever it’s going to be.”

“Erik.” El tries to cut through, but isn’t quite successful.

“This time there isn’t going to be that horrible winter, and there won’t be any sickness. Mia is healthy, and I have all my memories. We can do whatever we want, we can keep exploring, or go back to Cobblestone, have- have a  _ family  _ again.” The way he’d felt when Serena had dropped that little baby dragon into his arms, and how El had looked at him… 

Maybe they couldn’t have children themselves, but that was hardly their only option.  _ If  _ that was what El wanted. He wasn’t going to make any demands. 

_ “Erik.” _

“Whatever you want.” Erik keeps going, the near unnoticeable weight of the feather in his hand feeling like lead. “And- it doesn’t have to be right away. Whenever. It doesn’t matter. But-”  _ Finally  _ he managed to get a hold of himself, and gave what he could only call his best attempt. “El, I love you. And that doesn’t really say everything it needs to, but I think you know. I don’t want anything to change. I want to stay with you forever, however long that is. I want to ask if you’ll-”

A hand closed around Erik’s, and the tremor that had become visible through the trembling of the feather froze. “Marry you?” 

“I-” Erik felt frozen in time.

At any point during his rambling. He could’ve cut him off. But he chose  _ right  _ as he was about to ask to do it.

He tried to fight it, but he couldn’t help but smile.

El had done the same damn thing when he’d tried to confess. “Yeah.”

“I can’t believe it. You beat me to it.” El said, and slowly, pulled Erik closer. It took some effort, every last muscle locked in what he didn’t quite want to call fear, but soon enough he relaxed into the arms and wings that held him tight. “I was going to ask you when we got home to Cobblestone. I was going to make rings.”

“I would’ve said yes.” Erik told him, feather still held carefully as his own arms moved carefully around El’s wings.

Marrying for  _ their  _ own choice… Now all they needed to worry about was keeping Sylvando’s enthusiasm in check.

But there were worse problems to have.

Only days left to prepare, to get as strong as they could for this final fight…

And then, they really would have all the time in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a few more to go!!!
> 
> Also! Two things to note!  
> First thing:  
> The dragonspawn dying off to a plague is not meant to mirror the current world crisis. I’m not sure if it’s something I should worry about, but anxiety brain tells me it is. I wrote down that particular note back before everything really began. 
> 
> Second thing:  
> Yes this is entirely inspired by the harvest moon/story of seasons Blue Feather proposal items. Sue me.


	28. Time to Lose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> El must not know better.  
> Because as improbable as it may seem, he knows his own home.  
> And he knows that somehow, he’s back in Cobblestone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You don’t have to, the contents are only mentioned in one line near the end, but I recommend reading chapter 5 of Kindling before this one!
> 
> But here we go!  
> The big bag baby faced bug needs no introduction... Let’s just get this fight scene over with!

On the inside of the lantern, El expected to find nothingness. A vast expanse of pitch black, an absence of life and light.

But as they forced their way through upon Cetecea’s back, he almost could have believed he was dreaming.

Endless night, yes. But how painters saw it. Glittering stars of gold leaf over a watercolor sky, bathing the seemingly infinite world in a soft glow.

It was a deceptive kind of beauty, like the bright colors of poisonous plants and venomous reptiles.

Electricity crackled at his fingertips.

Not unlike his own power.

YOU HAVE COME, YGGDRAGONSPAWN.

Calasmos’s head appears, eyes only just visible beneath the bug-like mask.

El didn’t flinch.

Not one of their group back away or startled at the sight, at the booming voice that carried through the vastness around them.

This was their world at stake.

Cowardice would do them no good now. 

I AM CALASMOS. BORN OF THE VOID.

The head vanishes again into the void, just for a moment before Calasmos reappears in full, towering above the party and blanketed in purple smoke.

A smoke El recognizes. A barrier, but one he knows how to disperse.

Calasmos leaned in close to where they stood upon the floating platform, lined in golden runes, surveying them, and finding them unworthy.

El could not see its face, but he could feel its sneer.

It’s first mistake. Underestimating them. Underestimating what they’d done, what they’d seen, and what they were all willing to sacrifice to take it down.

A three clawed club, and a limb that didn’t look unlike the cannons he’d see on killing machines.

And if El wasn’t mistaken, he could expect it to function like one as well.

But that worked out just fine.

They’d made endless plans for endless possibilities, and to be frank…

Calasmos was hardly worthy of their most drastic. 

YGGDRAGON BEGAT YGGDRASIL.

I SHALL DESTROY THE WORLD TREE.

THE VOID SHALL CONSUME YOU ALL.

Erik and El both knew a world without Yggdrasil.

They wouldn’t let that reality befall this time as well.

COME, CHILDREN OF LIGHT.

GIVE YOURSELVES TO DARKNESS.

YOU SHALL ALL SOON KNOW THE VOID.

What little this monster knew.

It had size on them, it had sheer strength, but something important it didn’t have- was a bond with a dragonspawn.

It was deaf to the orders El called out, and unable to foresee their moves. 

_ Stay back!  _ Was the first thing El called as Calasmos raised its cannon-arm and called forth tiny creatures of inky darkness.

All not unlike the one that had followed him for ages.

To think…

It was of no matter, any longer. 

These, all of them could see.

El spread his wings, and took off from the ground, a sword in each hand. 

His dual-wielding was hardly flawless, but hours with Sylvando and Erik had brought him close enough to the expertise they both had. 

And Erik, thanks to a carefully written spell, wasn’t far behind. A little out of practice in the air, but nowhere near the disaster in the sky that he once was. 

Bolts of holy lightning called out of thin air — and the barrier was down. And they could move in.

Veronica focuses her firepower on keeping them down, then casts firework-like blasts all around to stun and blind Calasmos.

That was more practice, but safer for his fame-retardant scales than any of the others. Ducking and weaving through the blasts to find openings to add his own.

But their attacks were doing precious little, and their fight had begun to stretch over hours.

Days, perhaps.

In this bubble, there was simply no way to tell.

If he could just find a way to…

Nearly clipped by one of the rocks, asteroids, whatever the correct terminology these fell under… El had an idea. 

_ Keep away from him!  _ He called the same order again, and waited for Erik to fall back. 

A larger bit of debris, and a flying start.

A good, solid kick sends it flying to the monster’s helmet, breaking one of the eye coverings and in combination with what had already been done, starting a split that shattered the mask, and the entire exoskeleton with it.

And without an exoskeleton, no matter how large the insect, there wasn’t anything much protecting it.

From his point in the air, El took a second to take account of everyone’s location.

Hendrik was shielding Serena, who was on healing duty while Jade and Sylvando go in while Calasmos was distracted, dodging and waiting for openings to strike.

He can see Erik on the cannon, ice freezing the openings shut, and bringing the joints to a stand-still.

They had the upper hand, but… 

El isn’t coming away unscathed. None of them were. 

Healing didn’t come cheap, and they had to conserve energy where they could. 

His head is pounding, or maybe that’s Erik’s. At this point, he hadn’t any way to tell.

But there’s blood in his eyes and he’s losing his balance in the air. 

Enough so, that he isn’t prepared for more of the debris.

His wing is clipped, and he spins out, but managed to catch himself and land on Calasmos’s head. His wing is ripped, the membrane torn over the old scar. Stranded. 

But- Stuck or not, ripped wing or not, that accident may as well have been a blessing in disguise. 

Changing to his dragon form to keep balanced, he digs his hind claws into Calasmos’s head, and takes the newer sword of light in claw, and the older one into his jaw. The coppery taste of the metal and a chipped fang or two no matter in the long run.

It feels weird. The sword is small in his claws, he can’t ever recall having wielded a weapon in this form before.

But there’s no point in trying to remember.

Blade rising up, he drives it down as hard as he can manage.

Blood so black it looked like a rip in space oozed around the blade, and Calasmos shrieked in fury. 

The cut wasn’t deep enough.

This still wasn’t over.

It lashed out with its free claw, twisting and turning in an effort to shake El off, but he held strong. 

Calasmos’s shriek grew higher, and El’s ears began to ring with it. It felt as if the noise was inside his skull, drilling into his mind-

The sword crushed through bone.

Driving deeper and deeper down, until El was kneeling, only the hilt still visible. 

_ “El!” _

_ “Elwood! Get down!” _

So many voices carried to him at once, but by the time El looked up, just in time to meet Erik’s terrified purple eyes from across the raised platform, and then-

The ringing stopped.

Only the rush of blood in his ears to be heard.

He didn’t feel Calasmos’s claw crash into him.

Only the collision with the platform below, still and splayed like a child’s discarded toy.

Deathly silence for a moment.

Then the clatter of the second sword as it fell from his slackened jaw.

Everything hurt.

Pain radiating from each nerve, but slowly fading away. Growing distant.

In some far recess of his mind, he knew something was being said. He could pick his name from the mess of indecipherable sounds… But even that lost its meaning as sound entirely vanished.

Reality slipped from between his claws, and the pinpoints of starlight were snuffed out.

The void was black.

El had felt like this before, sinking deeper into the ocean, unable to move, unable to even really think as death crept closer and closer.

Back then, he didn’t try to fight it. He lay still, and waited for the reaper to take him. 

It was only the kindness of the Nauticans that saved him then.

But this time-

El fought. Focused everything he had left on the single pinprick of light he had left, and held strong to it. 

The Luminary would not be defeated again.

He would not doom the world, he would not doom another sorry soul to carry this burden. To fight this war.

He would not lose all that he had gained. He wouldn’t let all his work be for naught. 

The light grew from a speck to an ember. And though time seemed meaningless, and for all El knew these few moments could be lasting years- it grew further. Bit by bit.

It wasn’t his fire.

His fire didn’t burn cold. 

These odd flames kept him warm, and that was all he needed to know. 

Until- it wasn’t his only light. 

Though this wasn’t the light of a fire, or starlight. 

It was just regular daylight. 

Warm evening sun, filtering through a gap in a plywood wall. 

The air was stuffy, and smelled of pumpkins, straw, and chicken feed.

His vision began to clear, and El realized he heard chickens clucking.

This…

Curled an old quilt, he was laid up in what looked like the storehouse back in Cobblestone.

But-

That couldn’t be right.

He was fighting Calasmos. He was so far from home it would take  _ days  _ to fly back. 

Not to even mention that last he checked, this little building had been torn to the ground. 

El must not know better.

Because as improbable as it may seem, he knows his own home.

And he knows that somehow, he’s back in Cobblestone.

…And sleeping in the storehouse, for some reason. 

Sore all over, from the tip of his tail to the very ends of his talons, he tries to stand upright. 

But he’s halted by a muted sound, something only halfway words, and the realization of a weight against his side. 

There was a makeshift bed set up in the other corner, in the free space between some crates and boxes, but empty.

The person the bed was meant for sleeping snug against El’s side instead. 

The way his neck was turned as his head pillowed against El’s shoulder couldn’t have been comfortable, and he would surely have a crick in it by the time he woke, but that hadn’t stopped him before, and it certainly wasn’t about to.

And El hadn’t ever complained before about Erik using his dragon form as a backrest.

El didn’t want to wake him. He could make out the bruised colors of dark circles under his eyes, and the stark white of bandages wrapped around his chest and shoulder from the loose Cobblestonian tunic he wore…

But he needed answers. 

Slowly, El lay his tail over Erik’s middle, hoping the weight would be enough to wake him.

It wasn’t.

Or-

It didn’t have the intended effect. Again, Erik mumbled something incoherent in his sleep, and pulled El’s tail into his arms, holding it like a pillow, not a moment spared to care for the spines that dug into his skin.

Entirely a two ton scaly teddy bear, El tried again.

This time, gently nosing his snout against Erik’s cheek.  _ Erik…  _

That was only just enough. El began to worry. Erik was normally awake at the slightest movement, but looking at him through bleary eyes, Erik still didn’t seem to be a part of the waking world. 

Though it didn’t take long for those eyes to focus, one he realized what he was seeing.

_ How did we-  _ El’s question was cut off as Erik catapulted himself from where he’d been lounging, dropping El’s tail to instead throw his arms around El’s neck, and  _ squeeze.  _

_ Erik!  _ El tried to hold still, keep his talons on the ground, and not push him away. 

His grip only tightened.  _ I can’t breathe! _

With  _ that,  _ Erik finally released his windpipe. But he didn’t let go. 

Instead, his hands moved to either side of El’s lower jaw, and he began tilting his head this way and that, searching for anything amiss. 

“How do you feel?” Was the first thing out of his mouth, but he wasn’t given any time to answer before more questions spilled out. “Do you hurt anywhere? Can you remember what happened? Do you need anything? What can I do-”

_ I’m fine!  _ El tried to insist over Erik’s line of questions,  _ I’m fine! I promise, Erik- _

The questions stopped suddenly, a whiplash between the energy Erik had been showing, to the tears that were now threatening to spill over.

_ Erik- _

“I thought you died.”

_ What- _

“When Calasmos hit you, and you hit the ground… It-“ He choked. “It split your head-” Again, Erik had to cut himself off. “There was so much blood, and you weren’t responding to us-”

There was a growing list of times that El found himself powerless to do much of anything. 

But-

He wasn’t going to let this be one of them. 

It was awkward, trying to comfort someone while still taking the form of a giant dragon, but El would say he did his best. 

Wings wrapped around them both, and his forehead pressed against Erik’s as he cried out all that he’d been carrying while El slept.

While Erik clung on, riding out the tears until he hadn’t anything left to give. 

As they dried, and Erik regained his control, El managed to ask,  _ Are you alright? _

And Erik laughed. Still a little wet from what few tears remained, but a laugh all the same. “You’re the one that’s been out for days.”

_ Still. _

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.” Erik said. “Now that you’re up again.” He pulls back away from El, looking him over one more time, just as if he really couldn’t believe El was awake. 

“Alright, change on back. I don’t think there’s room in Amber’s house for you like this right now. Besides, it’ll be easier for Serena to check you over if you’re human.”

El follows Erik’s instruction without a thought, and is immediately almost bowled over by the sudden additional pain. 

“It’ll grow back.” Erik says as El’s fingers brush skin rough with close-shaven hair. 

It isn’t an especially large patch.

Just enough for a few good sized stitches. 

Erik really hadn’t been exaggerating.

“What do you remember?”

“I remember… Calasmos. Driving the sword of light into its skull… I remember you trying to warn me, and falling. Then… Nothing. Just waking back up here.”

Erik sighs. “For the best, I’d say.” He handed over the folded clothing. It was plainly colored and the fabric was light. “I don’t want you to remember that kind of pain.”

“You mean you felt it-” El was cut off, and not by an answer.

Perhaps it was best to just not think about it.

“Your last hit did the trick.” Erik explained, quickly going over how they had all rushed to his aid, stupid as it may have been to turn their backs to Calasmos, old sword of light lodged in his skull or not. “It tried to attack again, and made a promise to come back. That the cycle would continue.” 

El’s stomach turned and his face blanched, but Erik carried on speaking. “Would’ve been a more threatening promise if it hadn’t been bleeding to death. But it fucking disentigrated. Light tore ‘em apart from inside-out, and Erdwin’s lantern shattered. There’s nothing left of Calasmos.”

Nothing at all remained. That- it didn’t feel true. Perhaps with time. But for now… “How did you get me here?” El asked, shrugging on the light jacket over his sore skin, tying it in place. 

“With great difficulty.”

“But  _ how-” _

“Don’t ask questions you aren’t prepared to hear the answer to. Trust me, you don’t wanna know.”

El opened his mouth to ask one more time, but shut it with an audible click at the look on Erik’s face.

Yeah.

Maybe it would be best to remain ignorant of this particular detail. 

“Come on, then.” Erik said, pushing up to his feet and offering El a hand. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep… Supper’ll be ready soon, and we don’t want to be late, do we?”

El managed a smile.

He really was home. The both of them.

It was over.

He was dizzy, unsteady on his feet, and the lightheadedness would surely have sent him back to his bed if Erik hadn’t been ready for him to tip over. 

“Woah, easy now.” Erik said, trying to get him to take it slower. “Supper isn’t going anywhere, just take your time - that’s it.”

Using Erik as a crutch, and not caring too much for the way his tail dragged behind him, they took their time getting outside.

And once they had-

They sky was washed in reds and pinks. But not with malice or flames, with a cloud layer of a world wide curse, but plain and simple sunset.

The air held a bite to it, one that foretold snow, but something that would come with any Cobblestone winter.

And in the sky-

Erdwin’s lantern was gone.

But it hadn’t left a gap. Stars were still visible where the red star once hung.

A sky, for the first time in centuries, perfectly normal. 

And just a few simple steps away, leaking through the shuttered Windows was the warm light of the hearth in his home, the rolling sounds of people all carrying their own conversations, and the warm smell of a venison and wild vegetable stew. 

The door closes behind them both, and to his surprise, they aren’t bombarded by their friends and family, but simply invited to the two empty seats between Mia and Gemma.

And-

Everyone is here. Absolutely  _ everyone.  _ Amber gives them both a wide grin from where she stands over the wood stove, Jade and Rab carrying on a discussion with both of the twins, Hendrik even seen, but away from the table and with Amber instead, obediently peeling vegetables as she needed. 

Sylvando was busy trying to teach Mia sleight of hand, and that would surely backfire on them all-

It was perfect.

El had to wonder if he’d really survived at all, or if this was his own personal heaven. The last thing his mind dreamed up before oblivion. Before his leaf fell and a new one was born. 

_ Oh, give it a rest.  _ Erik thumped him on the back as they took their seats.  _ You’re alive. We made damn sure of that.  _

“Welcome home, El.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TWO TO GO!


	29. Mother, Dearest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Erik, I’ve been having dreams, again. About Yggdrasil.”
> 
> Eight words. And Erik hadn’t ever felt so exhausted.

_ “El!” Erik cried out his partner’s name, but his voice almost seemed to be only audible to his own ears. _

_ No matter how loud he screamed, it wasn’t enough. _

_ He may as well have been mute. _

_ Calasmos’s claw raised up, and El was swatted to the ground like a bothersome fly. _

_ Rushing to his side felt like slow motion, like running through knee-deep water, and when he got there- _

_ It was already too late. _

_ He knew that was wrong. _

_ Erik knew that this was all wrong. El had been saved. They hadn’t been fighting Calasmos alone. _

_ But El… _

_ Logic didn’t matter. _

_ Not when he stared down in eyes glazed over, sightless as a doll’s. _

_ “No!” _

_ Erik fell to his knees, and felt hot blood seep through his trousers from where it had puddled beneath him.  _

_ “No!” _

_ He had no healing magic. _

_ He couldn’t fix this. _

_ “No!” _

“Erik!” El’s voice cut through the dark, and Erik woke with a start and a half-formed scream caught in his throat. 

He was shaking like a leaf, a tremor that started in his chest and crept all the way into his fingers. 

His legs were caught in the bunched blankets, and though he knew they weren’t there, that the spell hadn’t been cast in weeks, a phantom sensation of his wings just as trapped by something across his back, holding him still pinning him against-

“It’s okay, it’s okay…” El’s voice only barely made it through to him, gentle motion and quiet words to calm his racing mind.

The same nightmare Erik had been suffering for weeks. 

The same way El had been bringing him out of it. 

The steady beat of El’s heart under his ear.

“I’m alive, everyone is. It’s all over. It’s okay.”

Slowly, he could breathe again. And El let him go. “Are you okay?”

“I will be.” Erik said. It was only just beginning to grow light outside. They had time to stay like this, El’s hand running through Erik’s hair until the shaking stopped, until his heart settled back down to a more reasonable rhythm. 

In comfortable silence, they both waited for the light to creep in a little more, to help disperse the shadows of the nightmare. 

Little by little, the fact they were all finally safe began to sink in. 

Erik felt as though he was walking on eggshells those first few days, El’s healing process going steady, but progressing slow. 

But, to be fair, that was true of them all. 

Too much magic, good or bad, wasn’t healthy. The human body could only take it so much before it began to grow dependent, and even beyond that it often put a strain on the heart.

And the goddess knows that Erik and El’s hearts have had enough trouble.

...Especially after one had to be restarted. 

Erik had lost count of the number of times he’d woken in a cold sweat, the cannon fire-loud sound of El hitting the ground echoing through his head. The exact same nightmare without change. 

He was fine.

They both were, and by some mercy, El couldn’t remember a moment of it.

And Serena had told him that in time, it would fade for him as well.

It was all over.

But it wasn’t gone. 

Slowly, they were recovering. And slowly, everything they’d seen was fading from reality to an old nightmare. Nothing more. 

The future they stopped was something to be forgotten.

Something to be replaced with better memories. 

“Are you sure you’re alright to go?” Erik asked as El winced. The tear in his wing had been fused back together, but it was a fragile fix. Moving it even slightly while he dressed resulted in a burning pain. “Jade would understand if we didn’t make it.”

He had asked time and time again ever since the invitation had arrived, hand-delivered by the princess herself. But El always responded the same way. “I could ask you that, too. I’m not missing this.”

And Erik didn’t expect him to. “It’s going to be a rough trip.” But he would try anyway. 

“I know.”

El wouldn’t be flying them. And while horseback would be faster, it wouldn’t be gentler. 

Erik pulled El’s hands away from the belt he’d been trying to buckle, and replaced them with his own.

It wasn’t anything like what he normally wore, his purple duster given up for the day to be replaced instead with a forest green overcoat with golden detailing, layered over a deep brown tunic.

Not  _ exactly  _ what a prince of Dundrasil would normally wear, but he wasn’t exactly a prince.

They were both only wearing what were once El’s kingdom’s colors to show support for Rab.

Heliodor wouldn’t ever be to him what Dundrasil was, but he was willing to give it a shot, for Jade’s sake, he was going to try.

It wasn’t enough, but it was all they could do to represent Dundrasil at Jade’s coronation. 

...Besides, a prince wouldn’t be allowed anywhere looking quite like El did now. Though the stitches had been removed already, his hair was slow to grow back, fluffy and sticking out in every direction. 

“There.” Erik said, taking a moment to straighten out a fold on the coat. “That’s everything. Are you ready?”

El nodded, and they made their careful way through their new home.

Mia would still be asleep, and Erik didn’t want to wake her.

Good, peaceful sleep was a rarity for them both these days.

But even so… They were both happier than they ever had been before, Mia over the moon to simply have her own bedroom.

That was another thing different. 

Her own bedroom… Their own home,away from Amber’s, for no other reason than they wanted it. They were hardly far away, but that didn’t matter at all. 

For now, they’re happy as they are, and they’ve got an adventure to give Mia. 

Just a few months away.

_ After  _ the wedding, he’d promised. Something that wasn’t dangerous, something that didn’t take them  _ too  _ far…

But they had a dragon willing to join, as long as he was welcome. There really weren’t very many places off the table. 

~~

After the, frankly overdone, ceremony to recrown Jade as heir to the Heliodorian throne, El hoped to get a few moments of quiet.

It was too much.

The crowd, the noise, people who wanted him to stop and make nice… He was tempted to take a page out of Erik’s book and forgo all politeness. 

But he knew that he had to keep up this ridiculous appearance.

He almost wished he could go back to hiding.

Almost.

In the long run, it would be better to have this safety net of being known, even if he wasn’t used to these kinds of crowds. These kinds of expectations. 

And besides. 

It wasn’t as though he didn’t have enough on his plate already.

If he could just get  _ one  _ good night’s rest, free of his own dreams, and god knows Erik needed the same, then-

“Luminary, I was hoping to find you.”

El fought away a grimace. Just Hendrik. It was just Hendrik.

He could handle this for a few moments-

“Oh,” El said before he could help himself. Hendrik was out of uniform, dressed like any other civilian, and Jasper the same. “Are you not guarding Ja- I mean, the princess?” 

Hendrik shook his head. “I wanted to announce that guarding her is no longer my duty. I have given up my oath to the royal family.”

“You- what?”

“I have retired for the foreseeable future.” Hendrik elaborated, seeing El’s stunned questions before he gave them voice. “It is more important to me now to do my part to help Jasper-”

“Don’t speak of me as if I’m not here.” Jasper cut him off, but didn't really sound angry, just tired. “My ears still work just fine.”

“Better than his, I’d bet.” El offered, hoping to begin to bridge the gap. 

He knew exactly what it was like to be thought of for a monster for things outside his control.

And while he knew exactly what Jasper had done… What he  _ could have  _ done…

This one hadn’t. He owed it to him to be kinder. 

A small smile tugged on the corner of Jasper’s mouth. “Is good hearing a trait of the dragonspawn? Here I was thinking the improvement was a result of my eyes.” 

“It could be both.” El said, “I don’t know much about blindness, but I could answer most questions you have about dragons-”

Not far down the hall, a group of noblewomen lit up in screeching laughter.

Jasper winced. 

“It’s too loud here for us.” Hendrik said, watching Jasper press the palm of his hand against his ringing ear. “The castle is far too busy. I had hoped to stay… But I do believe I’ll be considering a move very soon.”

“Don’t bother on my account.” Jasper said, but there was no life to the argument. He didn’t really care either way. 

El saw Erik across the room, and waved him over while Hendrik continued. 

At the very least now he would be able to leave as soon as he got out of this conversation, having already the chance to visit Jade and Rab. 

“And that is not just for Jasper’s sake. I have grown tired of this town. Maybe someday I will return to take up my post once more, but for now I just want some peace.”

“Hello, Erik.” Jasper greeted him first, beating Hendrik to it.

Erik looked unnerved. “Can you see me?”

“I can see colors, some shapes. Mostly blues, though. And  _ you,  _ Erik. That shade of blue is hard to miss.” 

It wasn’t meant as an insult, but Erik scowled all the same. He began to speak, surely to say something that wasn’t  _ nice,  _ but wasn’t enough to be taken as outright offense.

El spoke over him. “If you want peace, then why don’t you try Cobblestone? We’re still rebuilding-” Both former knights flinched, and El could’ve kicked himself. “-But we’d be more than happy to have you both.”

Again, Erik made to speak, and this time, El could  _ feel  _ what he was about to say.

As discreetly as he could, El stepped on his toes.

_ Do not.  _ He gave the smallest of warnings. 

“We even have a spare room at the moment, if you’re interested.” 

_ El!  _

“I could not possibly impose on you so terribly.” Hendrik said, “And even so, I doubt the  _ two  _ of us would truly be welcomed.”

_ El. I hate Jasper.  _ Erik begged silently, careful to keep his thoughts to just himself and El,  _ what are you thinking? _

“Mum already knows you, Hendrik.” El said, “And it’s an empty room. There wouldn’t be any imposition.”

_ I hate him too.  _ El shot back,  _ But wouldn’t you prefer to have him as a friend than an enemy? Look, he’s not who he was. _

Erik stood down, and spared a look at Jasper. 

A villain in his eyes, but one beaten done. The reason for the scar on his chest, the reason El had lost in that other time… 

But now… He knew that he hadn’t been in his right mind. 

And while that didn’t excuse him entirely…

Erik sighed.

“El’s right.” He said, “Cobblestone would welcome you both.”

~~

He stays silent, but Erik can’t say he’s fond with how taken Mia had instantly been with Jasper. Hendrik as well, to a lesser extent. But Erik knew from experience that all Hendrik could do was bore her with repetitive anecdotes in a monotone voice. 

But  _ Jasper…  _

Erik didn’t know exactly why he was so upset about the strange sort of friendship the two had struck up. 

There wasn’t any harm — well. There wasn’t any  _ lasting  _ harm it could accomplish. Broken pottery from the sudden new interest in sword fighting could be replaced or fixed… 

At least now that all her practice was now being properly supervised. 

Jasper was a changed man, not the same as the one Hendrik had fought so hard against before, not the one that had aided in the torture and death of Yggdrasil, not a spectral sentinel. 

Not a part of Mordegon’s army, and by that same extension, neither was Mia.

...But perhaps it was another leftover that helped the two get along so easily, even through their own shared brattiness that should lead them both to butt heads. 

He should be happy, for the both of them. Mia giving Jasper someone to talk to who never once brought up or even completely knew his past, and in turn giving Mia an odd sort of mentorship, someone to pester instead of picking pockets. 

It was that which left him unprepared for El to finally come clean. 

Mia was no born natural with a broadsword, a paring knife being the closest thing to a weapon she’d ever held, and even then it was one she’d never been forced to use. 

Jasper couldn’t guide her as efficiently as Hendrik or El could, but it might have been just that reason she worked the best with him, having to find her own balance without constant feedback.

“Erik?” El had taken his attention away from Mia’s lesson, “I need to talk to you.”

Now, that would have been a scary sentence to hear on the best of days, but the undercurrent of anxiety that had been there for weeks had only grown. Blossoming into a high static. Impossible to ignore.“I’ve been having dreams, again. About Yggdrasil.”

Eight words. And Erik hadn’t ever felt so exhausted.

It’s too close. The nausea Erik feels as they pack their bags in the dead of night-

As they’re caught leaving.

“Off on another adventure, are you?”

Erik stays quiet as El answers the same question with the same answer. How long will they be gone?

“A month at the most. If we’ll be longer, I promise we’ll come back here first. I won’t leave you without any news.”

As Amber turns her eyes on him. 

He nearly asks the same thing of her that he did before. 

But the words catch in his throat.

“I’ll take care of him.” He says instead. “Tell Mia we’ll be back soon.”

“I know you’ll be back soon.” Amber had said, leaving them to their midnight escape. “There's something you can’t miss just around the corner.”

It was that simple fact, that minimal change that kept Erik sane as they left.

This wasn’t the same.

They wouldn’t find Yggdrasil dying.

This, whatever it was, would be different.

Leaves whole and green, unmarred by any change in season, by any disease surrounded them. Growing lush and thick on every branch and vine.

Glowing motes of light as souls travelled to and from the Tree of Life, and plenty of tockles, their pure light blue, not a single corrupted one in sight…

Yggdrasil was healthier than they’d ever seen before.

No powers of evil left threatening to steal Her rightful place in the sky. 

Which begged the question — what exactly had she summoned El for, now of all times?

“A reward, I hope.” Erik guessed, pulling himself up another ledge. “You got any idea what kind of treasures She could have stashed up here?”

“She’s a tree, Erik.”

“She’s a  _ goddess.”  _ Erik argued back, reaching out a hand to pull El up the next level. “Careful, now.” 

He  _ was  _ being careful, El hadn’t been the one who’d nearly slipped in the mud and bashed his head on a river rock only minutes before. 

But he’d be merciful. No need to bring that up. Just yet. 

“A goddess that’s been sitting pretty in the sky, untouched by humans for hundreds of years. There’s nothing here.”

“Yes there is,” Erik said, not looking back. “I can smell it.”

“You can’t smell treasure.”

“Yes, I can.” 

“Erik.”

“El.”

El couldn’t help a smile. “Yeah, then what’s it smell like?” It occurred to him that Erik was just trying to distract him from the path they walked, to keep his mind away from whatever they may see next.

“Sulfur.” Erik answered right away.

“Erik.”

“Like a dragon’s morning breath.”

_ “Erik.”  _

He grinned over his shoulder. Not looking where he was going.

“Remind me why I love you again.”

“Because you’re an idiot. And I’m an idiot. Perfect match, right from the start.”

But as they came to the clearing, they both went quiet.

No matter what was ahead…

“Are you ready?” Erik asked.

El took in a shuddering breath. No. He wasn’t. He wanted to turn around, and fly them both back home.

He wanted to continue planning their wedding, the next few months of their lives, where they would take Mia when they got back…

But he couldn’t. He was the Luminary, and as such… He didn’t have a choice. 

“I guess so.” El said, and stepped over the threshold without anything further. 

It… Didn’t  _ look  _ like there was anything wrong. 

He continued forward, Erik not far behind. 

Life bloomed all around them, but for all that they saw…

There wasn’t a single thing to be found out of the ordinary.

Until the mark on his hand began to glow. 

The light pulsing in time with that of the World Tree’s heart, the heart growing brighter until the world around them vanished, the lush greens all muted by a fine white mist.

And in the center, sitting at thrice El’s height…

Was what he almost thought was his own dragon form. 

Just  _ almost. _

Missing his secondary coloring, and marked on more than just a forepaw with the mark of light, it resembled him enough, or, more accurately.

_ He  _ resembled  _ it. _

_ So… You have come at last… Welcome, my children of light. _

The voice echoed in his mind, just as so many others did, now. 

But… This voice was different. Old, kind, and achingly familiar in a way he didn’t know. 

Erik was silent, shocked into muteness, but El was silent only to hear her continue. 

Twice now he had been called ‘Yggdragonspawn.’ Twice now he had brushed it off. 

But… He had a feeling that he had been called such a thing for a reason, now.

_ “I am the being your kind once called the Yggdragon.” _

A goddess, real and tangible before him, but El can’t find anything inside himself to spare for awe. 

One careful step forward. The dragon — Yggdrasil — only watches.

“Why?” He asks. One simple word for everything. 

Yggdrasil waits for him to continue. 

“What now? What’s gone wrong? Why did you summon me here?”

He can’t handle anything more. No more disaster. He’s done his job, three times over now. Sacrificed so much-

He doesn’t have much left to give. 

Yggdrasil’s kind eyes go sad, and El hears the mournful notes he would hear from any other dragon. 

A single foreleg lifted up, and extended towards him.

It took all of his self control not to leap back. 

“El!” Erik only barely stops himself from trying to pull his dragon away from the perceived danger. He knows this is Yggdrasil, knows that she doesn’t mean harm-

But in the end of the day, an unknown is an unknown, and a dragon a dragon. 

A single talon, sharper than any weapon but wielded with such gentle care that only thousands upon thousands of years could breed, touched softly against El’s cheek.  _ “My child, nothing is wrong. I only wish to thank you.”  _ Her eyes find Erik.  _ “Both of you. And, had they come, all of your companions.”  _ That should be a relief, but El had spent so many days allowing his fears to build… That it simply had nowhere else to go.

As much as he dearly wanted that to be true, for it all to simply be over… He couldn’t grasp the concept.

Some part of his mind expected his journey to last forever.

To be fighting as long as he lived. 

The talon was moved away.  _ “I watched from the beginning of your journey, Elwood. You’ve fought valiantly. You’ve earned your rest. I’ve seen every struggle you’ve faced… Even the ones that never happened.” _

El looked up in shock. 

_ “You May have been the first to break time’s sphere, but you will doubtfully be the last.” _

“Was it the right decision?” El managed to ask, “I made the right choice?”

_ “Only time will tell. Even I cannot say for certain what the future might bring. One day, the darkness will surely rise again. None can say when, nor what form it might take… But a Hero will rise to take the sword in hand once more.” _

‘A hero.’ Not… Not him.

_ “You have fulfilled your destiny. The world may still have need of you yet, there could be dangers that the Luminary will be called to fight, but Mordegon is defeated. Calasmos is vanquished. You are Erdrea’s savior, but you will not be it’s only one.” _

Some many centuries down the line there would be another great evil, and another luminary. 

The tension ever so slowly began to fade out.

It was over.

Again and again, he’d said those same words to Erik… But without believing them himself. 

It was over. Well and truly. 

...and now, El saw his last opportunity for the truth. He knew what became of the dragons. He knew that they would be coming back.

But… 

Why  _ him?  _

Yggdrasil didn’t need to hear his question to know what he wanted to ask.  _ “Another dragonspawn was not meant to be born so soon… But the Luminary was needed once more, and I feared the worst would happen again… The world needed its Luminary, and the Luminary would have to be strong.” _

“Then why am I like this?”

_ “It was a gift, in hopes it would save you, my child. All living things are my children, but you just a little more than others… The dragons of the First Forest are all gone. All, but you.” _

He was the first back, but he would also be the last one to walk Erdrea below. 

_ “Your mother knew, somewhere deep in her mind… Did you ever ask the meaning of your name, Elwood? ‘Old Forest…’ Sometimes, ‘From the forest.’ It does not matter whether there will be more exactly like you or not. No matter what, you are both the beginnings of our Renaissance. Not echoes of the dragons from before, but dragons brand new.” _

The world was whole, and soon enough, it would be entirely healed.

And he was finally free to it, and to all the time he had left. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...and one left to go.


	30. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the record, Erik would like to remind everyone that most of this was not his idea, and therefore not his fault.  
> But this?  
> This was his fault.

For the record, Erik would like to remind everyone that most of this was not his idea, and therefore not his fault. 

But this?

This was his fault.

“Just hold  _ still!”  _

His fault, and everyone else’s problem. 

Really.

The one thing that had been his idea… 

El had chosen the location. Lonalulu.

Simply enough accepted, even if it had been with more than a few eye rolls. Cheesy? Yeah, probably.

But they didn’t know the half of it.

And, with that said…

Actually… This was his fault, too. 

They’d considered staying in Cobblestone, having a modest ceremony… Dundrasil had also been on the table, Rab offering his knowledge of traditional customs… Even Sniflheim had, albeit very briefly, been in for the running.

But El had his heart set on the tropical destination, and not for the pearls or blue ocean or clear skies.

But the promise Erik had made what felt like years ago, that one day they’d be able to come back. That they would be able to go wherever they wished, whenever they wished. 

But if they really needed a good excuse… Spring was still a colder time of year across most of the world, and El didn’t want to risk drowsiness in the middle of their ceremony. 

“I said  _ sit still,  _ you absolute bonehead!” As small as she was, there was absolutely no reason for Veronica to have the kind of strength she did. “Do you  _ want  _ me to smudge all this? We’ll be here  _ all day!”  _

Now with one hand holding his chin in place, she continued her incomprehensible motions with paint and powder on his face.

All he had done was ask Krystalinda what a traditional wedding would mean to her. What the customs were for dragons.

He hadn’t intended to end up with her directing the entire thing. 

And, he hadn’t any idea the copious amounts of make-up that would be involved. 

Eyeliner he was accustomed to. 

He knew what blush was, and he knew lipstick. But the rest of this stuff?

He couldn’t name it if his life depended on it. 

So much shimmer and so many bright colors…

That’s where the problems began.

His nose itched, and his back was screaming at him for sitting upright properly in a chair for so long…

And Mia has only just begun her work on his hair. Really. He only had so much to work with, what was the point?

“If you move around and knock all this out of place  _ again,”  _ Mia threatened, using a voice he’d heard thankfully few times and tugging a comb just a  _ little  _ too roughly through a knot than what had to have been strictly necessary, “I  _ will shave you bald.”  _

It was a difficult task, but by some miracle Erik managed to survive.

“There. Done.  _ Finally.”  _ Mia took her hands out of his hair about the same time that Veronica finished up with his make-up, leaving only Serena and the cowl she had waiting to drape around his shoulders.

It had a hood on it, one he had already been told multiple times he was by no means to put on.

He didn’t know what the point of it was, then. But he didn’t argue. 

“There!” Serena said, fastening it in place with a golden clip, shaped into a swirling dragon, wings spread wide. “There’s a mirror just over here, come on, have a look.”

Erik followed dutifully, and while he had seen all the odds and ends separate, he hadn’t quite been prepared to see them all put together. 

He understood the hair, now. As short as it was, they’d still managed to find a way to braid a small section of it near his face, and weave in multitudes of small flowers. Angel’s breath, he’d been told they were called. Small and delicate, and the only white to be seen in the entire ensemble. 

The rest was bright and vivid. 

Not a speck else of plain white to be seen, and not a hint of black.

The dragonspawn, as it would seem, put color into everything. 

Weddings, festivals, and celebrations of all kinds meant getting decked out in the brightest and most beautiful they had, or in a handful of cases, just the most eye-wrenching they could manage.

Erik had to hand it to Sylvando, though. They really knew what they were doing with this. The navy of the cowl faded as it draped towards the floor, a slow gradient into a rich purple. And now, seeing it in the mirror, hood or no it began to make sense. His own wings hidden at the moment, this cape took their place. 

And beneath the cape, he wore more blue, deep magenta and gold… Colors he didn’t have names for the shades of, but easy enough to say he was dressed in a sunset. Layers and layers that would surely become unbearable as the heat rose, but worth it all the same. 

“Oh!” Mia jolted up from where she sat, “I nearly forgot!” 

Digging around in her bag, she pulled out a single earring, and handed it over to Erik.

“Shit.” He held it to the light, checking it over one last time, “Don’t wanna go out without it.”

It was smaller than the feather he had gifted to El, but from the same kind of bird, with the same pattern of beading. 

It didn’t take long to replace one of his with this new one. 

Somehow, completely independently of outside help, he’d proposed to El in the traditional manner. A gift of what the other hoarded. And while Erik hadn’t been a dragon long enough to decide on any hoard of his own, there wasn’t any harm in sharing the same type of item, was there? “Thanks, Mia.”

“No problem.” She smiled wide, dressed up in a short red dress, and her hair pulled to the side in a much neater braid than what she normally wore, “You ready?”

“Nope.” Erik grinned, “Lead the way?” 

El was already there, waiting out on the sands. Flowers bigger than what Erik wore in his hair, carefully arranged to hide the shorter growth, and with vines wrapping around one horn. That enough should be all he needed to feel weak, but Sylvando seemed to have pulled out all the stops for his dragon’s outfit. 

If Erik had the colors of the darker half of dusk, then El had the other end of the spectrum. 

All golds and soft warm colors, the sun setting over the water in draping fabric and shimmering gold, patterns painted onto his skin to mirror those on Erik’s, bracelets and rings and so many beautiful things that only lit him up further. 

So many things he could never have imagined, never have dreamed up. His El, his dragon, his firefly — looking just as entranced as Erik felt.

But there would always be something to turn the best of moments on their head.

You’d think by now Erik would know to look where he was putting his feet, but that may be giving him just a little too much credit.

A small hole in the sand where a bird had been digging for mollusks caught his foot, and his ankles betrayed him. 

Sending him in all his made-up glory face-first to the sand.

That was it.

He’d ruined it. 

He was already late. And now  _ this- _

Time to run. Pack a bag and make for some unexplored corner of Erdrea. 

There were gasps of horror, and startled chatter immediately.

And Erik briefly considered making the sand his new home.

Who needs a husband when you have the tide?

But there wasn’t any way anyone would let him stay there indefinitely.

There was the clatter of metal jewelry, and Erik heard El’s voice.

Strained with suppressed laughter.

At least he’d managed to be funny.

“Are you alright?” There were hands helping him up, brushing sand from his clothes, and wiping it carefully from his face.

El didn’t look upset at all.

On the contrary, he was smiling, and all Erik felt was warm, gentle love. 

“I’m okay.” Erik said, though he didn’t quite dare look to their audience and felt just a bit like crying, for more reasons than just one. 

El’s hands around his own. “Are you ready to keep going? Or do you need a minute?”

“I-“ Erik braved a glance to where Serena stood near the altar they’d set up, who was watching carefully, ready in case he needed any help, and another to their guests.

No one was anything but concerned. 

Even Mia had ditched any jokes she may have,  _ that she surely had,  _ thought up on the spot. “I’m ready.” 

Together, El keeping his hand grasped tight, they returned to where they were meant to be, and the ceremony continued as if nothing had happened.

As if his eyeshadow hadn’t smeared, and he hadn’t lost any flowers to the sand.

He spoke the words of a language he didn’t know, a spell without any magic, asking Yggdrasil for the blessing they knew she’d already given, and exchange of rings, of simple vows.

Erik’s embarrassment faded immediately, knowing they were surrounded by people who wouldn’t ever have faulted him for a mistake, and surely not for one they could use to tease him with for  _ years.  _

He was safe.

And  _ ‘safe’  _ quickly morphed to mean something entirely else as their celebrations moved from the beach to the festivities further inland. A few failed attempts at dancing blocked by a wayward tail and a dragon with two left feet landed them off the dance floor, and eventually laid together in one of the hammocks strung up between the palm trees, not far from the bar.

Close enough that even fit snugly against Erik’s side, wings dangling limp over the edge, he didn’t have any reservations about ordering drink after drink. 

Even though he had cut Erik off what felt like ages ago, right after he had lost the ability to correctly pronounce what he had tried to order.

But that was probably for the best. 

Even without, this was all perfect. The light music, the salt-tinged wind coming from the sea, and the perfect vantage point to have seen Veronica  _ finally  _ given a drink by the man running the bar, only to take a sip and be infuriated anew to find it to be one-hundred percent mango juice.

It wasn’t long after that Erik was the one cutting El off, having noticed just seconds in time to stop El from tilting his glass far enough back to drench them both in whatever fruity slush he’d had at the moment. 

As the night winds down, and fewer and fewer are left, they find their little hammock surrounded, chairs pulled over where they could be, a few just sitting comfortably on the ground, sitting in comfortable silence or trading simple stories. 

And even then, one by one, they’re left alone. 

Jade is the first of their party to leave, promising to hold off her  _ real  _ coronation until the two of them return from whatever adventure they end up on. 

El is sad to see her gone so soon, but he understands. It was a miracle she was able to make it out this far without an entire entourage at all, but really El knows he has Hendrik to thank for that. Retired or no, King Carnelian knew she’d be safe with him there. 

The twins go next, promising to stop by Cobblestone as often as they can.

Hendrik follows after that, and then Sylvando. Complimenting them on the beauty of the ceremony (that they had all but single-handedly thrown together) one last time before they left, until it was just the two of them, Mia, Amber, and Rab. 

And Amber… Was absolutely smitten with the entire town. “You know…” she started slowly, “I’ve been thinking. I’d like to travel a bit. See some of the world before I get too old.” 

“You’re never too old to go off to find adventure.” Rab pipes up, “I’m living proof of that.” 

Amber just smiles. “Maybe so, but I think I’d rather do it sooner than later. And I’m sure between the three of you, you’ll have plenty of advice for a beginner.” 

“Of course.” El says, happy for her, but scared all the same. The world was safer now, but he still wouldn’t be able to see her off without worry. 

“Your granddad would be proud, you know.” She says, dropping the subject for the time being. “I wish he could see you now. Chalky would have plenty to say, I’m sure.” 

Whatever El had to say lost as the name finally clicked for someone else.

“Chalky…” Erik mumbled, “As in… The adventurer? Big, white moustache and always wore an orange cap?”

“Sounds like granddad.” El said, brow furrowing, “Why-“

_ “Damn.  _ Small fuckin’ world.”

“What?”

“One of the earliest memories I’ve got… One of the first times the Vikings sent me out into Sniflheim to beg. Old guy saw me an’ Mia, and I guess knew we needed more help than what we were getting. Whole time he was in town, he’d seek us out, give us money and food, warmer clothes, even. Told us stories about his travels. I think he was trying to gain our trust, get us to go with him instead of going back to the Vikings.”

“I-“ El opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to speak but without anything he knew to say. “I wish you had.”

“I’m glad I didn’t.” Erik said. “Who knows what would’ve changed? Might not be here right now.”

It shouldn’t be so easy to move on past that, but for the moment, it does. Conversation ebbing and flowing for what felt like not enough time at all. 

But none of the conversation comes quite as close to sobering either of them.

Not until the night begins to wind down and most leave for their own beds.

Not until Rab leaves them with his own blessing, and one last piece of news.

“I just wanted to tell ye, Elwood… I’ll be rebuilding Dundrasil. Making it the place I know it can be.”

El freezes in Erik’s arms… And that same cold fear begins to settle into Erik’s stomach, all sorts of terrible conclusions being drawn before Rab even explains.

“I’m nae asking you to be king, now or any other day. The royal family is nearly gone, just us now… And Erdrea has enough kings and queens who think they know best what the world needs. No… No monarchy for Dundrasil. Not this time.”

“Then…?”

“Dundrasil was once the closest we had to an authority over other kingdoms… If it hadn’t fallen, you very well could have been an Emperor, El. But I don’t ever want to see that kind of power fall into anyone’s hands. Times are changing, and we need to, as well. Dundrasil is going to be a place neutral to all conflict. A house of knowledge, and a town that welcomes all. A council for peace. You don’t need to lead, or even live there. But I want the luminary. I want my grandson and my grandson _ -in-law _ to be a part of it. But… I won’t demand anything of you. If it’s not what you want… Then it’s not what I need.”

El stays quiet, but the fear is gone. Replaced already with careful thought.

“Just think about it, and tell me whenever you decide.” Rab stands from his chair, and pauses just a moment, eyes lit with unshed tears. “Your parents would be so proud to see you now.”

Erik is gently woken by a push at his shoulder at some point in the night, when all but Mia have left.

“You probably don’t wanna fall asleep out here.” She whispers, just low enough for Erik to hear, but not wake El, who still had him in a vice grip. “Need some help?”

“Nah, I’ve got him. Not the first time I’ve had to drag him around.”

“Probably not the last, either.” Even in the dark, Erik could just about  _ hear  _ her smile. “You’re both gross, you know.”

Erik breathes out a laugh, and reaches out to ruffle her hair. “You still love us, though.”

“Yeah?” She says, “You’re still gross.”

“Night, kid.”

“Night.” She says, and leaves him to puzzle out exactly how he was going to get El back to their room.

~~

Erik woke with the sun, just as he always did. 

But this morning… Everything was different. Brighter, somehow. Even with the light of the sun shuttered out.

He had nowhere to be, nothing he needed to do… Even breakfast wasn’t of any concern, something that would be brought to them whenever they decided they were hungry enough to abandon the feather-softness of their sheets. 

He could hear the gulls calling, and the high tide crashing against the rocky shore. 

As gently as he could, Erik extracted himself from El’s arms, and swung his legs over the side of their bed, careful to keep his steps silent over the creaky floorboards and piles of discarded clothing and adornments. 

Opening the shutter brought the morning light inside, along with the smell of the saltwater breeze and the light heat of the early sun. 

The rustle of sheets behind him, and what had to have been his name, but slurred by sleep and what remained of all El had had to drink. 

Leaving the window to the empty cove open, Erik turned back to the bed, to see El propped up on one elbow, looking at him through bleary eyes and lit in the golden light, all the world the picture of an angel.. “Somethin’ wrong?”

A swell of warmth in his chest, Erik made his way back, plucking the remaining flower from El’s hair and letting it fall. “Nothing’s wrong, firefly.” 

El’s eyes fell shut as Erik tilted his chin up to kiss him, and didn’t open until he’d pulled back away. 

Climbing back into bed and pulling the sheets back over them both, El curled in close, until his forehead was against Erik’s chest, and his tail curled loosely around his ankle, letting out a contented sigh as he began to drift back off.

“Nothing’s wrong at all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit. It’s done.  
> 211 days and -checks- THAT many words.  
> And my durgins are done. Oh my god. I had no idea this fic would be so big, or that so many people would even read it, less so love it as much as some of you seem to.
> 
> And I just.. thank you?? For reading, and leaving such nice comments! ;-; Tysm..
> 
> Especially all of you guys in SOS who listened to me drone on about this fic, and especially-especially Addy.  
> Bro.  
> I don’t know how you can even stand to see the word ‘dragon’ after almost a year of me blabbing about this fic in your dms... but ;-;  
> All I can say is ;-;
> 
> I hope this was a satisfying ending, and I hope you aren’t done with these boys, because even if FireBreathing is complete.....  
> The dragonspawn AU isn’t.  
> And there will definitely be more soon.


End file.
